


Solar Eclipse

by mediocrenova



Category: Pocket Monsters SPECIAL | Pokemon Adventures, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions
Genre: Completed, Developing Friendships, Multiple Universes Colliding, dm me for a link to the manga /s, gladion is here he just doesn't do much yknow??, i literally can't type everyone so these guys are just the main players
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-02
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2019-12-30 18:13:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 27,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18320621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mediocrenova/pseuds/mediocrenova
Summary: Currently, there are three Alola regions. Ash has one, Sun has one, and Moon has one. Now, they have to share one.





	1. Bored

_ Maybe it’s a good thing I left Kanto. _

It was late afternoon, and the sun beat down heavy. Anywhere else, this would’ve been horrible, but on Melemele’s soft, sandy shore, Sun didn’t mind it too much. The way the water sparkled was almost picturesque, and he wondered if Rotom-Dex would mind taking a picture. He took a seat and leaned back, his hat almost threatening to fall to the beach at the new angle. Looking up at the clouds, he smiled to himself… But the joy was over as soon as it came. 

It wasn’t a personal thing, but lately he felt off. Finishing his island challenge, defeating the fresh Elite Four, AND dealing with all the Ultra Beast shenanigans was taxing. But what was even worse was how simple things were after that. 

He talked about it with Hau one day, but he just didn’t quite grasp it. The idea of being bored with life was a completely foreign concept to someone who saw an opportunity in everything. When Sun consulted Lillie, she was hurt initially. After the saddest expression he’d seen on her face in months, he realized he had accidentally implied he was bored of everything, including his best friends, and quickly broke out an apology. 

Trying his best not to seem like a downer, he brought it up in casual conversation to everyone he knew. All the trial captains, reformed Skull kids, every adult in his life. Answers varied from “You should be proud!” to a simple shrug or ruffle of his hair. Only Gladion offered a straightforward solution. 

“Why not try your hand in another region?”

Sun’s jaw had dropped. “You mean, leave?”

The older boy seemed unphased. “If you want change, you have to look for it.”

“But… But someone has to defend the Champion title!”

“I can think of a few people who would be willing to save it for you when you got back.” 

Sometimes Sun forgot how little Gladion feared saying it like it was. “My friends are all here! There’s too many people I would miss.”

Gladion side-eyed him, peeking through his bangs. “Video chat.”

Sun almost hit him with, “What about my mom?” but decided against it. 

It was too simple-sounding, but it was practical. Start from scratch, go on a new journey, learn about new places and people and pokemon.  _ Easy for him to say, he’s already gone out of town. And he came back every time.  _

But Gladion had a point. Yet, when Sun thought about it for too long, he got a headache and his stomach turned. He got the uncomfortable gross feeling that came with a cold, and the heartache he denied after watching a sad movie, and at the same time to boot.

Sun sat up a little, craning his neck to look past the waves and see just how far his line of sight went. Leaving Alola means leaving everything, though. I couldn’t. Could I? No. Definitely not. He wiggled out of his backpack, leaning against it like an impromptu pillow.  _ For their sake, of course.  _

He sighed. Is this what it means to be at war with yourself? He could see it all play out in his head. He couldn’t take ALL his pokemon with him, and only taking 6 like usual felt too much like picking favorites. He did trust the others though. Maybe he could give them some of his, as a parting gift. He would walk up to the dock to meet everyone, ready to see him off. Maybe some of the trainers from the other islands would show up, if it wasn’t too much trouble. If everyone he met showed up, though, there’d be no room on the dock for him to leave! The silly thought of all those people on one tiny area made him grin. _ All those people missing me, huh? There would definitely be tears. _

Then, the recently all-too-familiar feeling returned. His head pounded, and his gut tensed. That was enough fantasizing for the day. He stood up and lifted his bag, shaking the sand off the bottom so he wouldn’t be scolded for tracking it indoors later.  _ Sentiments aside, it’d just be plain weird living anywhere besides here. _ The professors had told him months ago about the lack of Z-Moves to swing the match in your favor, and how certain pokemon even looked. Sure, this was stuff he’d always known in Kanto, but he was too young then to actually train. Despite being such a recent change, Alola felt like home. 

_ Teenage angst can wait _ , he thought as he adjusted his hat.  _ I have better things to focus on, like… _ He racked his brain for something to do. The sun was beginning to set, and he felt he at least needed to do one thing before heading home.  _ Like… Visiting the research institute! Yeah, that’s it! _

He dug around in his backpack for a pokeride.  _ I haven’t seen the Professor in forever, she’ll be happy to see me again. She’s been so busy with the wormhole aftermath, I bet she could use some company. _ He lifted the device up, summoning a charizard into view. This should be a good time, right?

 

“What do you mean she can’t see me?!” 

“I’m sorry, but it’s just not a good time for her. Professor Burnet has been much too busy for visitors lately.”

The woman at the desk gave Sun a sympathetic look as he leaned over the counter, but it didn’t deter him. “I’m like, her adopted nephew or something. Plus, it’s been ages since we caught up!”

She tapped something on her keyboard before speaking again. “Your name is Sun, correct?”

“Mhmm.”

“According to the entry log, you were here last Saturday.”

Sun lowered himself from the counter, recoiling back into his normal height to give an awkward laugh. “Yeah… but that was different! This time it’s an emergency.”

“Define emergency.” It was clear that the receptionist was getting tired, but wanted to humor him a little longer. Her attention returned to the monitor

“Kukui crashed his boat.”

She gave an unimpressed glance in his direction.

“Lillie dropped her new pokedex into Poni Canyon.”

“Kiddo, you’re gonna need to try harder than that.”

“Okay, fine,” he groaned. Plan B. “I left my hiking shoes in her office, and I need them to get up Mount Lanakila. For champion duties.”

She sighed, pressing a button under her desk. The heavy metal *clunk* of the elevator signalled Sun that he could pass. “Make it quick, please.” 

“Yes ma’am!” he beamed as he ran to the elevator. He pressed the button quickly, practically bouncing on his heels to do  _ something _ . The quiet music from the elevator only seemed to heighten his mood. By the time the doors opened just enough for him to squeeze out, he was already walking down the hallways to the familiar room. 

“Professor! Professor! Hey, I--” he swung open the door to her office to be greeted with silence, and a distinct lack of Burnet. He walked in cautiously, turning on the lights. “That lady wasn’t kidding about her schedule being booked,” he murmured to himself. Retracing his steps to the door, he realized that it wasn’t just her room; The entire lab was dead quiet. 

Sun thought back to when the professor had advised him to not wander around the other floors. She said her office was fine, but to be wary of the lab, and ESPECIALLY avoid the upper levels.  _ Guess I know where I’m going _ , he thought as he hopped back in the elevator. She probably meant something like “don’t go up there without me.” And if she’s already there, then I’m technically not disobeying her. I just have to find her.

 

The building was bigger than it looked. Too much time for Sun’s liking had passed, and he was no closer to finding her. Until--

CRASH!

“That’s probably not good,” Sun said to himself with a smile. 

He started down the longest hallway yet, to the definite source of the loud noise.  _ What could be in there? _ he wondered.  _ Did they uncover a new pokemon? Is it an Ultra Beast, back for revenge? Maybe it’s just a coffee cart gone off the rails. OH, what if the new pokemon is the coffee cart? What if it’s an Ultra Beast that looks like a coffee cart, and it’s attacking! I better step in, just to be sure. _

He opened the door with just as much flourish as he had when he first stepped into her office. “Professor!”

The scientist turned around, her white hair falling out of place. “Sun?!”

This room was in complete disarray. Papers were thrown about, metal tables were either pushed against the walls or completely knocked to their sides. Scuff marks dotted the floor and walls. Sun recognized some of the scientists, but none of them looked completely happy that he had barged in, and some even looked afraid when he did. 

Of course, the main thing he probably should’ve been focusing on was the gaping black hole pressed against the far wall. 

It wasn’t an Ultra Wormhole. It couldn’t be, it just didn’t look right. Instead of pushing something out, or trying to suck an Ultra Beast back in, it seemed to serve no purpose beyond trashing the room. Furthermore, it was just a simple black circle, pitch black, rimmed with gray tones. A literal black hole.

“Is this a bad time.”

“Sun, sweetie, you have to go.”

He began to walk inside. “What is it?”

“It’s…” she gestured vaguely. “Something. We don’t know. So, I’ll say again--”

“Is it a wormhole?”

“Not like what we’ve seen.” A frazzled scientist spoke up. “This, well, whatever it is, emits no energy, negative or positive, and we’re nowhere near a safe enough stage to test it.”

Burnet pinched the spot between her eyebrows. “Thanks for piquing his interest.”

Suddenly, Sun understood Hau’s excitement at opportunity. “I came to help, as a matter of fact.”

Burnet sputtered. “Absolutely not! This is too dangerous and unpredictable. That thing is as uncontained as you can get.”

Sun didn’t give himself much time for thought. “I’ve been around more dangerous things. Ancient godlike creature of light and darkness ring a bell?”

The Professor’s face hardened slightly; a rare expression that was only saved for the most dire, serious situations. “Sun, I mean it. Go. Home.”

A new figure approached from a different doorway. “Professor, the longer we stay here, the more agitated it gets. If you look at the comparison charts…” 

The man in the lab coat went on and on, and Burnet’s attention was just divided enough that her authority slipped for only a moment, long enough for her to respond with a brief, “Alright.”

She took Sun by the wrist and led him out the unexplored door, followed by the room’s other occupants. A thick window, more like a one-sided mirror based on how he didn’t notice it earlier, separated them and the danger zone, and Burnet motioned for Sun to sit, and to not move. “So much for a welcoming party,” he grumbled.

“Any news on backup?”

“He said he’d be here any minute, but I don’t know if we have that long to decide what this is…”

Conversation trudged on as Sun kept his eye on the blackhole.  _ Maybe blackhole isn’t the word. Maybe it’s just a wormhole that leads somewhere besides a traditional Ultra Dimension. Maybe…  _ He eyed the group of adults. _ Maybe it would close, if someone put a plug in it, like how THOSE wormholes work.  _

He fidgeted in his chair, formulating the beginnings of a plan. _ If an object the size of Nihilego could close a wormhole, and Nihilego is only about yay big, then… Those tables! They have wheels on the bottom, I could push one into the hole, closing the gap!  _

He crossed his arms with a proud grin. _ And then I’ll have done something interesting again, finally. _ He stood up, keeping his attention focused on Burnet, who was already sour enough without dealing with him currently. Whatever she was hearing, she didn’t like it. But that was about to be solved. 

_ She’ll totally be relieved once I fix this. I’d bet my hat that this is what’s been keeping her cooped up in here anyways. When was the last time she got a break? _ He slowly opened the door.  _ Easy… easy…  _

Creeeeeeeaaaaak.

The squeaky old door cut through the silence like a knife, and Burnet was quick to react. But Sun was quicker. “Sun, what are you--!?” He dove out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him with all his might.

With a little too much might, as it were. The door handle remained in his hand, but unfortunately, no longer connected to the door. 

The scientists took to the door, trying to pry it open but to no avail. Burnet quickly made for the window, seeing the door situation was occupied. It gave her a clear view of Sun, which didn’t calm her nerves any, but at least she could see what he was… wait… what  _ was _ he doing?

_ She’s so stingy and grumpy today _ , Sun thought, taking putting the handle on the top of a table lined against the wall. _ It’s weird seeing her so wound-up, and it’s no doubt because of this thing.  _ He turned the table, and pushed it to the center of the room, lining it up with the wormhole perfectly. 

From behind the glass, Burnet watched in horror. “He has absolutely no idea what he’s doing.” She ran back to the door, pushing back the crowd. “Move, move!” Unclasping her necklace, she slid the ring in the crack of the door, trying to force the latch back into the wood. 

Sun exhaled. “This should be enough to cut it.” He began to push the table forward, finding it heavier than he expected, yet he still made progress. He pushed, he shoved, he put his back into it. He was almost there, when loud footsteps echoed over the hum of the wormhole. The door Sun had previously entered from was practically slapped open, and a woman in a dark suit ran in. 

“Wait!”

Sun turned, just as he gave the final push. “Oh, I know you! Hold on, don’t tell me, you’re--”

Time hit a standstill. Professor Burnet was finally able to open the door, and reached out. The woman in the suit continued running to Sun. But it was too late. The final shove of the table, with Sun still holding on, had set the wormhole off. He felt a pull, and suddenly remembered that Nihilego didn’t always just carry itself into wormholes. Sometimes, it carried others with it.

The last thing he saw was the determined but terrified faces of the women who tried to catch him, and then everything went white.


	2. Welcome to Alola! Sorta

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Congratulate me guys, after all this time I'm only just now putting my canon username to good use.

When Sun came to, his head thumped. His stomach churned. He was drenched in… water? A cold sweat maybe, or maybe the wormhole just led to the beach. No, no, this was definitely a sweat. The same type that came with a nightmare, or getting caught doing something he wasn’t supposed to do. His other symptoms seemed too familiar for comfort, too.

    He felt the bed underneath him, and stared at the wooden ceiling as a million worst-case-scenarios played in his head rapidly. The Professor was right. He hadn’t listened to her and now he had to pay the price. But what was the price? Did it just knock him unconscious? Normally if someone fainted though, their vision turned black, not white. As he sat up, he realized there were more urgent matters than the science of passing out. Looking around the room, he found that he recognized the layout… but not the belongings.

    The room only had two walls, one to his left by the bed, and one behind him. Where the other walls (or a door) should have been, there was instead railing, and he could make out the top of a ladder across the floor from him, with the rails parting appropriately to make room for it. There was furniture scattered about, and the way everything was organized was almost identical to, of all places, Lillie’s room at Professor Kukui’s lab. Actually, he wondered as he tried to stand. Is it a lab, or a house? He lives there, and Lillie lives there, so it’s like a home, but there’s all that science-y junk downstairs. I should ask him what he calls it when I get back.

    “When I get back” echoed in his mind. Of course he was going back, wasn’t he? Maybe he was already back. Everything was ok. Yup. Definitely.

    Except that, despite the set up, this was very clearly not Lillie’s room. At least, not unless she decided to do a complete makeover while he was out. Little details that made it hers, like the pokemon bed for Nebby, her diary, and pokeplush were nowhere in sight. Instead, random t-shirts littered the floor, along with pokeballs and what looked like homework on the desk. He spotted his hat dangling on the edge of the bed and his backpack on the floor, and without much thought, proceeded to pick it up. This weird, bizzaro Lillie room could wait. He needed to get out.

    _This thing is a lot heavier than I remember_. As soon as it was completely lifted off the floor, the bag trembled. Sun blinked. He recalled his pokemon shaking in their balls sometimes, if they were impatient about a battle or, in one specific case, if someone close to him was in danger. But he could only feel it when he held them, not through his backpack. Something was wrong. He spun the bag around again to face him, and started to reach for the zipper. As his fingers brushed the metal, the bag rumbled again, and he took his hand back instinctively. What was in there?

    _It’s like ripping off a bandaid. Just get it over with._ He squinted his eyes shut and ripped the zipper open so fast, he almost tore the fabric. But to his surprise, he didn’t feel anything jump out. Slowly opening his eyes, he held his breath… Only to see a small Rowlet snoozing peacefully before him.

    The little pokemon tossed and turned a little, lost in a deep sleep. Sun had heard that pokemon took to warm nooks and crannies to get comfy while they slept, but this was ridiculous. He glanced over to the other bedpost to see a nearly identical backpack, and it clicked for him. This wasn’t his bag at all, his was over there! So who did this--

    The rowlet woke up.

    Sun looked at it. It looked at Sun. Like a switch had been flipped, both parties reacted violently. The birdlike pokemon cried out, and flew towards him as he yelped and ducked. Turns out, this rowlet didn’t like unfamiliar faces. Without the protection of his hat, it began to peck at Sun’s head. In a vain attempt to protect himself, he positioned his arms above his head. “Quit it! Hey! Stop!!!”

    Muffled voices came from downstairs, but Sun was too preoccupied to give them much thought. “I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t know!” As someone climbed up the later, Sun began to panic. If the rowlet’s trainer was anything like it, Sun was in for it. “Please? OW!”

    “Rowlet, stop!”

    On a dime, the assault ended. Rowlet flew past Sun, and he slowly lowered his arms and began to turn. _Uh oh._ “Listen, I’m very sorry,” Sun didn’t look up at his apparent rescuer. “I thought that that was my bag, and I thought I wouldn’t give you anymore trouble if I just left and stuff, but that uh, wasn’t the case. My bad.”

    “Don’t be silly, man!” The voice was young, but scratchy. “Rowlet’s always a little on edge when it wakes up from a nap.”

    Sun looked at them. A young boy with short, dark hair tucked under a hat not unlike his own stood on the ladder, just high enough that Sun could see him from the torso up. He wore a big smile, even amidst the awkward situation, and his brown eyes didn’t have a trace of negative emotion in them.

    He continued. “I’m glad you’re finally awake though. It seemed like the professor was really nervous you might not come to for a while, even Nurse Joy seemed a bit uneasy. Here, follow me!” He started down the ladder. _Boy, could this kid chat up a storm._

    “By the way,” he paused for a second. “You can call me Ash.”

    Sun followed him down the ladder, and Ash immediately began talking his ear off. He learned what kind of person Ash was very quickly, and realized soon that he didn’t mind him at all. In fact, the longer they talked, the more Sun felt at ease. At least, until Ash talked about his recent life in Alola.

Sun didn’t say much, instead opting to listen, but everything was a glaring reminder that he was absolutely not at home. Ash threw around lots of familiar names and locations, but it only served to creep Sun out more. This world was similar to his own, but the key difference was obvious; he didn’t exist here. Ash explained that Professor Kukui found him on the shore, and, drawing uncomfortable parallels to when Lillie had been found on a beach, immediately took him in. Every time he went out, he instructed Ash to keep an eye on the mysterious boy, but that meant Ash had to miss classes. In the end, Sun had been out for two days. The first 24 hours, he didn’t budge; Ash said he was basically a rock. Nurse Joy came in and took a look at him, confirming he was ok, but exhausted. By the second day, he wasn’t awake entirely, and he had no memory of it, but he drank a little water. At the mention of not eating for those days, Sun’s stomach grumbled.

    “Oh yeah, you must be starving!” Ash declared, lightly hitting his forehead as though he just put that together. “Here, I think we have some leftover sandwiches in the fridge…”

    Sun shifted in his seat. Again, the room was the same, and this time almost everything matched up. Yet it felt like an uncomfortable, warped mirror version of the place he’d grown so accustomed to. “Ash, could you tell me more about this island?”

    Like he had to ask. “Sure! I mean, it’s not JUST this island. There’s four of them, but they’re pretty close together. Heck, they’re so close that most of my friends just come over whenever. Like, Kiawe and Mallow and Lana, Lillie and Sophocles-- Come to think of it, I think I’m the only one living on the same island as the school!”

    Sun winced at each name. He wondered if he would’ve been less uncomfortable if he had been stuck in a completely different world altogether.

    “Although… nah, this is gonna sound weird.”

    “Dude. Read the situation.”

    Ash laughed a little. “Okay, yeah, point taken. All of this is a little weird.” He took two plates into the living room. “I hope you don’t feel like too much of a copycat if I say this, but you aren’t the only person we found like that recently.”

    Sun felt like that information should have shocked him, but at this point, what could? He took a bite of the cold sandwich. “Yeah?”

    “There was a girl that showed up at the Konikoni police station, about the same time that the professor found you. She specifically asked around by name for both the professors and Hala- Uh, that’s the island kahuna- but what weirded everyone out was that she knew almost everyone’s name, and they’d never seen her before. Olivia is the kahuna of the island where she showed up, and she immediately called out to her by name before she introduced herself! It’s so weird!”

    “That does sound pretty weird,” Sun agreed, half-listening. “Are you gonna eat yours?”

    “You can have it. Uh, where was I?”

    “Creepy girl.”

    “Right! Professor told me to call him when you woke up, something about meeting with the Kahunas and the girl as soon as possible? I should probably go do that, huh?” Ash hadn’t even sat down to talk, and he was already walking downstairs to the lab. Meanwhile, Sun scarfed up this sandwich as fast as the last. It tasted like a sandwich Mallow gave him once on a picnic, and upon realizing that she very well could have been the chef, he suddenly wasn’t as hungry.

    Ash continued shouting downstairs, saying something about “Rotom,” and “He’s up!” Sun envied how unaffected he was despite the circumstances. If some random kid washed up on _his_ shore, in _his_ Alola, he wouldn’t just act like it was whatever. But he wasn’t Ash. It seemed like nothing phased this boy.

    “Right now? As in RIGHT now?” Ash was back on the main floor, holding the Rotom-Dex and looking at the screen. Sun felt his body tense up. _Wait. Is Rotom still in my bag?!_ The last he remembered, Rotom was out of the pokedex, saying something about needing to charge. He still probably needed to check though. He leapt up, and started to make his way to the ladder, but a pikachu abruptly jumped in front of him. Based on the look the creature gave him, not to mention his encounter with Rowlet, Sun slowly backed off. “If you say so. We’ll meet you there!”

    Rotom shook itself side to side. “A little more warning before you just grab me would be nice!” The digital pokemon went back downstairs to do… whatever it was doing before, Sun imagined.

    Ash smiled apologetically. “Heh, sorry. Pikachu, c’mon, we have to take--” Ash paused. “I never got your name.”

    “It’s um… Sun.”

    “Alright, Sun. You ready to meet everyone?”

    _I already have._ “Could I grab my stuff first? I like having it on me just in case.” Ash nodded, and Pikachu seemed disinterested in Sun after that, moving to its trainer’s side. Sun climbed up the ladder, grabbing his bag and setting his hat snugly on his head. As he glanced in the mirror, he felt an odd pang of nostalgia. Almost deja vu. Putting on his hat and backpack, getting ready to meet Alola… He pinched his cheeks, trying to wake himself up. Nothing happened.

    “You coming?”

    “Yeah, I’m coming. I just needed a minute.”

    As Sun went back down, it set in for Ash. To him, this was a new adventure. Meeting a strange boy from who knows where, taking him around the island? He’d done crazier! But based on how… how unhappy Sun looked, he knew that this wasn’t as much fun for him. He was in a strange new place, with strange new people. Ash would have to make this as fun as possible!

    “Trust me, Sun,” Ash gave a softer smile than before as he took Sun’s hand. “You’re gonna love them.”

    “I know I will.”

 

    The walk to Iki Town was brief, and calmed Sun down a bit. At least he didn’t feel his throat tighten when he saw a group of preschoolers playing with a rattata, or when he saw crabrawlers peeking out of the grass. They were familiar sights, but it told Sun that, while this was going to be uncomfortable, if the world before liked him, and this dimension was virtually the same, what did he have to worry about?

    “Are your professors smart?” Sun asked, kicking a rock off the path.

    Ash looked like he’d been hit in the face with a pie. “Are they smart? Of course they are, man! They’re pokemon professors!” He continued to talk about them proving time and time again their intelligence, but Sun could only think about the time Kukui dropped his wedding ring in the sink and panicked, asking a kid with a magnemite if he could borrow her pokemon, but almost flooding the kitchen in the process.

    Though, he never doubted him, or Burnet for that matter, when it came to academics. Nobody knew battling like Kukui, and no one knew otherworldly phenomena like Burnet. Maybe, just maybe, she knew what she was talking about when she told him to go home. Now isn’t the time to fuss over that though. If these two are half as smart as my professors, I’ll be home in no time!

    Once they reached the clearing, Ash’s chatter slowed to a halt. The sudden silence was a little jarring, to say the least. “Ash?”

    Sun looked in the direction Ash was staring at. Hala stood at the door of his home, waiting patiently, but completely stoic. Sun didn’t think too much of it, but Ash lowered his voice. “He’s been really serious since that girl came here. I haven’t spoken to him since.”

    “Now isn’t really the time to get nervous,” Sun said flatly. He picked up his pace, walking ahead of Ash. “Besides, if me and her are what’s making him nervous, we can solve that by… well just by me being here!”

    Just seeing Hala was enough to restore Sun, at least partially, back to his former self. “Alola, Hala! I heard you asked to see me?”

    The old man raised an eyebrow at him as Ash caught up. “You’re very chipper, given the circumstance.”

    “I learned blind optimism from a friend.” You know him very well, as a matter of fact.

    Hala led the boys inside. Sun almost wept from the relief of seeing so many people, but he held it back. All four kahunas were seated in the main room, Kukui standing with his back to the boys. Hala cleared his throat to announce their arrival, and the professor turned, his face surprisingly lax. Normally, Sun would’ve expected a big, beaming smile, or a loud voice welcoming them, but instead, this man held a relaxed grin, slouching over slightly with a hand on his forehead as he let out a sigh of relief.

    “I was almost worried you’d never wake up at this rate,” he admitted, straightening up again. He extended his arm. “I’m Professor Kukui.”

    The change was subtle, but it was enough to weird Sun out. Again, with this weird mirror dimension thing… He took the professor’s hand. “Sun.”

    Kukui never dropped his smile, but his features darkened a little with uncertainty. “Sun?”

    Sun awkwardly released himself from the handshake. He nodded, and a chuckle emitted from one of the kahunas. “That’s funny,” a different man’s voice entered the conversation. Nanu rose from his seat, coming over to them. “Like day and night, almost.”

    “What’s that supposed to mean?”

    “Don’t worry about that yet, kid. You need to be introduced first, it’s tradition.” Nanu didn’t seem phased by Sun’s presence either. His mentioning of introductions almost felt like sarcasm, but Sun couldn’t pinpoint why; maybe it was just Nanu being Nanu. “You’ve already met Hala, so that leaves… Olivia, and Hapu.” He gestured vaguely in the direction of the two remaining people sitting down.

    “Nice to meet you,” Hapu nodded curtly. Olivia gave a small wave.

    “And I’m Nanu, but…” he lowered his voice a little, in an almost accusatory tone. “You might already know that.”

    Sun grit his teeth in his mouth. How did he…?

    “There’s one more fresh face, though,” Hala spoke, seemingly unaware of Nanu’s last comment. “Professor, where did she go?”

    “She told me she just wanted to look around the town, to ‘see how it matched.’” He turned to Ash, who was standing straight as a board. “Ash, could you see if you can find Moon?”

    Moon?

    “There’s no need to.”

    A self-assured voice spoke from directly behind Sun, causing him to jump and cry out. He spun on his heel so quickly he began to fall back, and Ash hurriedly caught him under his arms.

    A girl his age stood before them, with hair just as dark as his and Ash’s, cut short, but still poofing out of the bottom of her hat. Sun wondered if it was just tradition for trainers to wear hats, but even then her beanie was bizarre. Like Ash had said, she really wasn’t too different from them. Her gray eyes, previously calm, widened in shock once she took a good look at Sun.

    “Sun?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO. CLASPS MY HANDS TOGETHER.  
> We now have all three of our protagonists together! Ash from the anime, Sun from the game, and finally, Moon from the manga that not everyone has heard of apparently? BTW READING THE MANGA OR BEING FULLY CAUGHT UP ON THE ANIME, THAT DOESN'T REALLY AFFECT THIS. Any differences are just... explained in the plot eventually anyways, if they matter. SO... ENJOY.


	3. Accused!

“How do you know my name?!” 

“How do you know his name?!” 

Sun and Ash both squeaked at the same time, Ash dropping Sun in the process, resulting in a loud thud. The girl’s shock melted into anger, and she took a step closer to Sun to hover over him. 

“Courier, don’t you dare play dumb! Not when the situation is like this!” She grabbed his shoulders and shook him. Kukui moved to intervene, but Nanu stuck an arm out in front of him. 

“Wait. I wanna see how this goes.”

“I’m,” Sun began to stutter. “I’m very sorry, but I seriously don’t know what you’re talking about! How could we have met? I only just woke up! I don’t even live here!”

“I know you don’t live here,” she let go of him, but her face was still intense. “You live in my dimension!”

The room was quiet. Moon evidently didn’t like that. “Listen, this boy-- If… If he’s not from my dimension like he says, then he’s extremely similar!” She eased up a little. “Your name is Sun, right?”

He nodded.

“Are you from Kanto?”

The horror must have shown on his face.

“You have a litten and a meowth.You get bored easily, and you depend on your pokemon for basically everything. You have a Z-Ring. How close am I?”

“Uncomfortably close,” Sun backed away in a mix of confusion and slight fear. He covered his wrist in self-defense. Who was she? How did she-- How could she possibly know all that! “But y-- there’s--”

“This is worse than I thought.”

The room was quiet for a split second before Ash went off like a firework. 

“This is incredible!” he yelled. “Are you psychic? Wait, no, you said he’s just from your dimension. But that doesn’t make any sense, he didn’t know anyone beforehand, and you knew everyone!”

“You must be Ash.” 

“You really are psychic!”

Hala cleared his throat yet again, commanding everyone’s attention. He didn’t say anything for a second, though, and just looked between the three children. “Professor, I think we’ve seen enough.”

Kukui tilted his head slightly. “‘Enough?’ Hala, Sun hasn’t even explained his situation yet.”

“He seems in no place to right now. There’s no use in prodding when the boy is clearly shaken up.” He directed his attention to Ash. “How long ago did he wake?”

Ash looked up at the ceiling in thought, counting on his fingers. “Less than two hours, maybe. Definitely not more than three.”

“Are you positive?”

“Well, Pikachu was supposed to get me when he woke up, buuuut...”

“It seems that Sun needs some time to recuperate, and Moon needs to work some things out of her own.”

Nanu smiled. “What did I tell you? Sun and Moon. They go together, don’t they?” Olivia made a gesture for him to zip it. 

“Alright,” Kukui said, still seeming wary of letting the two kids loose already. “C’mon kids.”

He ushered them out the door, with Ash tailing close behind, already preoccupied with feeding a pokebean from Hala’s table to his pikachu. Sun opened his mouth to say something to the kahunas, but lost the thought midway, and Moon seemed like she wanted to interject too, but made no move. The professor closed the door behind him, and gestured to the steps of the wooden platform normally used for battles. 

“But--”

“Just sit.”

Sun and Moon did as they were told. Kukui crossed his arms, looking between the two, similarly to how Hala had minutes before. “It really is weird,” he mumbled to himself.

“Right?” Ash added.

“So,” he looked at Moon. “You say that Sun is present in your dimension, but you say there’s no Moon in yours.”

“I never said I was from a different dimension!”

“Call it a hunch, but I know you’ve met me before.” 

Moon gave a smug grin to Sun, and he turned away from her. “What makes you say that?”

He grabbed the collar of his lab coat, then pointed at his board shorts. “No comment on the outfit.”

“I didn’t want to seem rude!” Sun gawked. Moon’s stoic expression faded into an uncontrollable smile and Ash couldn’t help but giggle. “What was I supposed to say, nice water shoes?” This only made the other two kids laugh louder.

“Focus, focus! Sun, be honest. Have you really never seen Moon before in your life?”

“Not once! I didn’t even know her name until I showed up.”

“Professor’s right,” Moon mused. “This is weird… There’s no one like me in your world?”

“Nope. But…” The other three leaned towards Sun. “Hey, hey, don't pressure me or I won’t say it!” They immediately returned to their former positions. “The thing is, Kukui is right. I  _ do _ know him. And I know Hala, Olivia, Nanu, and Hapu. When Ash mentioned all of his friends, I knew all of them too. I feel like I know everyone, except you two.”

Ash slumped. “There’s no me in your dimension?”

“That doesn’t make sense though, because I know you. At least, I think I do.”

Sun and Ash stared at her blankly. “What I mean is, you don’t seem exactly like the courier. You haven’t said anything about money, you don’t seem as laissez-faire around the professor, not to mention you seem almost goofy.” She looked away, lost in thought. “You’re almost a little bit like Hau.”

Sun could’ve sworn his heart jumped out of his throat. “HAU?!” The yell carried so loudly that a group of wingulls flocked away in panic at the noise. Moon winced. “Sorry, sorry, just-- You know Hau, too?”

“It seems like she knows everyone you know. And isn’t that kind of everyone I know, too?” Ash added. “Do you know Lillie?”

“She’s…” Moon frowned at the dirt and picked at a splinter in the wood next to her. “Yeah, I do. What about Gladion? Do you k--”

“Shut up! I totally do, how do you know everyone?”

“A better question is how do  _ you? _ ”

Kukui tapped his chin. “It sounds like…” He shook his head. “Nah, I should leave this to the professionals. Follow me.”

He walked away, not checking to see if the kids followed, but they did anyways. Ash trailed after first, followed by Moon, and finally Sun. But as they walked away from the large house, Sun realized that even though Moon was stuck in a different world too, her’s couldn’t have been much different than his. 

Based on what Ash had said, she knew everyone already. It was almost a game to everyone to meet Moon and see if you existed in her world, and he even then, despite this being a different world, she trusted everyone already too. Sun had picked up on minor differences between everyone he’d encountered again, and there was no doubt by what she had said about him that Sun and the others were different in her world too. But here she was, either willing to agree with the slightly skewed versions of her friends and family, or just that desperate to get back. Sun kind of felt the same, if he was honest.

“Where are we going?” Ash picked up his pace briefly to walk next to Kukui. 

“Well, we should be going to see Burnet, but she’s been swamped lately, so first we’re going to the pokemon school. We’ll see what Oak knows about this before we bother her.”

“The pokemon school?” Moon clutched the strap of her bag tightly, her eyes uncertain. 

Ash turned to her, wide-eyed. “You don’t have one?”

“I… maybe? I’m not sure. If there was one, I never passed it.”

Sun took note of Moon’s body language. After meeting Red, he tried his best to learn sign language, but doing so was no easy feat. Aside from teaching him personally, Red also taught him that sometimes, you can tell what someone is thinking by how they act. People move certain ways subconsciously, to a point where even they don’t realize. Sun thought about how she averted eye contact sometimes, how she had scratched at the wood, and now, how she was fidgeting with her purse. Despite talking like an expert, she was just as nervous as he was. Where he was trying to cover it up with a smile, she covered it up with facts. Both of them acted like they were positive they’d get back but they still weren’t sure. 

But he knew better than to say anything about it.

The school was close by with not much in between, but Ash was sure to point out any and all sights on the walk, even if it was just a place where he had fallen out of a tree or a meowth had stolen his sandwich. Ash’s body language on the other hand, couldn’t be more different from Moon’s. He was unworried, unphased, carefree as ever. Ash really did see this as an opportunity to make friends. He swung his arms in an exaggerated manner as he walked, taking big steps. Pikachu never strayed too far from his trainer’s side, either. No wonder he was so relaxed, he always had someone with him, even if that someone was Pikachu. 

Of course, he didn’t have to worry about that. The pokemon school here was very different, instead of a more industrial building, this one blended into the environment, with a hatch roof and an open design, complete with a belltower. And just as soon as they approached the school, it was evident that Ash made his mark. After a quick shout of, “They’re here!” a group ran to meet them at the door. 

Any trace of a smile on Sun’s face threatened to fade away. He shot a glance at Moon, who kept her eyes shut and took a sharp inhale. She finally stopped holding onto her purse for dear life, and took the remaining steps forward to meet the others. Sun stayed back for a second before tailing her. He didn’t even have to meet their eyes to know who was who, and it… hurt? It felt weird to him. 

“Is that…?”

“Are those…?”

Ash nodded with a proud grin on his face. “You bet. Say hello to Sun and Moon.”

The two stood up unnaturally straight. No one said anything for a minute. Moon raked the crowd with a much more critical eye than Sun, and he thought about how quick she was to ask him about the differences between… well, the two versions of him. Sun himself started to notice subtle things, too. As they spoke with Moon, he tried to pick them apart. Kiawe was… younger? He seemed shorter. Mallow was more excitable, maybe. It was hard to pinpoint, but he definitely caught wind of the differences. Maybe it wouldn’t be too hard to pretend he just didn’t know them.

Lana, however, opted to focus on Sun instead of Moon, and stood directly in front of him. She didn’t speak, but she circled him slightly, inspecting his shoes, backpack, up to the tip of his hat, occasionally murmuring a “hmmmm” in there somewhere. Mallow joined in, followed by Sophocles and a surprisingly large amount of pokemon. Eventually the crowd was a bit too much to bear, and he fell back onto something soft. A loud cry echoed on the beach, and he felt fur underneath his hands. Uh oh.

“Snowy!!”

“Snowy?” Sun and Moon repeated. Sun shifted his weight up to let the poor creature free, and an Alolan vulpix darted out from under his upper back. Judging by how it ran off, it was ok, but it’s ego was damaged. Sun followed the vulpix with his eyes only to see an unexpected face.

“Lillie?”

Sun couldn’t remember the last time he saw Lillie looking like… well, that. Nowadays, she kept her hair up and out of her face, and traded the bulky duffel bag for a backpack not unlike his and Hau’s. Maybe… this dimension was behind on the timeline? 

The crowd parted away from him, instead opting to check on Lillie. She was very distressed about her poor pokemon after all! Sun stood and brushed off his shorts, looking around at the group he came with. Ash was with Lillie, smiling happy as ever, saying something about Snowy probably being fine. The professor shook his head with a grin. Really, the only person not smiling was Moon. 

She didn’t seem openly distressed, but she was doing that thing with her bag again, clenching the strap tightly and tracing up and down with her thumb. As a matter of fact, she didn’t have any sign of emotion on her face beyond business. She turned her head to Kukui so quickly, it startled Sun. 

“Professor,” she spoke bluntly. “If you’re ready, can we go inside?”

“Huh?” he blinked and focused on the matter at hand once more. “Oh, right! Yeah, just follow me.” 

Moon was already making a beeline for the door.

“Ash!” Sun called out. He gestured to the door, and Ash nodded in understanding. He gave a quick wave to his friends, and joined the group. Back to four. 

As they walked through the building, he realized that despite it being big, it didn’t have half as many classrooms as the school he knew. Still, there was a good bit of walking to get from the spacious classroom up the tower to meet Oak. This gave Sun plenty of time to stew his thoughts; it was a brief encounter, but still bizarre. Sun tried to shake it all off, but his mind was so clouded that he ended up drifting too far behind the others. 

He didn’t even realize until Moon matched his slowed pace and poked his arm. “Are your shoes filled with lead? C’mon c-- Sun, we have to go!”

“Show some sympathy!” he took off his hat and wrung it in his hands. “I just had to stare my friends dead in the face and accept that none of them knew who I was!” 

“And you think I didn’t?”  _ Oh, that set her off. _ “You-- Ugh, I can’t even say you don’t understand because you  _ should _ , but here we are. What do you think I’ve been doing the past two days? What do you think I’m doing right now?”

He forgot. “Oh, right.”

They kept walking. 

“You really don’t know me? Not even a passing glance or anything?”

She knew the answer, but Sun didn’t respond with it anyways for her sake. “Are we friends?” She went quiet. “You know, like in y--”

“Yeah, I know, I’m thinking.” She let go of the bag strap. “I think so. In a… in a way.”

“Are we best friends with Hau?”

“Um… kinda. I wouldn’t say best friends, but he’s nice to us. He’s fun to battle with, too.” She smiled a little. 

“Lillie? You seemed kind of on edge abo--”

She quickly cut him off again, but there wasn’t any malice in her voice so much as a panic to answer quickly. “I don’t know if you are. You seemed more interested in getting things done than friendships, but I liked her. She seems kind of happier here. She wasn’t doing too great when we met her.”

“Yeah, my Lillie wasn’t exactly a ray of sunshine at first either. But she’s come a long way since then.”

Moon paused and looked at him. “What?”

“I hadn’t really considered how different things were besides Ash being here. Is she… doing okay?”

“Couldn’t be better! She even learned how to battle recently, and she’s been learning how to work the foundation and-- We totally stopped didn’t we.” Sure enough, the two kids had ceased moving forwards in the hallway. They stared, dumbfounded at how they hadn’t even noticed, until they met eyes again and started laughing. 

“Y’know Sun, maybe sometime you should tell me more of what your… version is like. Of everyone.”

“Only if you tell me yours too.”

“It’s a deal!”

“Guys! Are you coming?”

“Yeah, yeah, we’re coming,” she groaned, still grinning. Sun decided that this Moon was much better than the clinical, serious front she had all evening.  _ She’s not as bad once you get to know her, _ he thought.  _ Maybe if I’m really the same in her dimension, then… yeah, I think we’d be friends.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you know how hard it is to write about 10 or so people simultaneously. Rick Riordan made it seem so easy when I was little...


	4. The Subtle Differences

    Sun winced when he saw Professor Burnet in the office. As soon as she turned around, his mind replaced her warm smile with the horrified look she wore as he fell into the wormhole. Not exactly a good reminder. 

“Honey? I thought you were too occupied.”

“Well, technically I am, but I thought you could use the help, dear.”

Ash rolled his eyes at the terms of endearment. “Newlyweds,” he whispered.

Sun raised an eyebrow, and glanced at Moon, mouthing "newlyweds?" to her to see her reaction. She tapped her wrist like a watch, then pointed at her ring finger and shrugged.  _ Okay, this place is definitely operating on a different schedule.  _

Oak sat at his desk, clasping his hands together. “I’m afraid this isn’t the time for light-hearted reunions. Professor Burnet, if you wouldn’t mind.”

She gave a sharp nod before facing the kids. “Sun, it’s nice to meet you. Moon, nice to see you again.” Her smile faded. “At least, it would be if not for--”

“Hey, don’t forget me!” Ash grumbled. 

    “Pika!” Pikachu added indignantly

Her smile returned on a dime. “And it’s nice to see you two again too.”

“Professor, the news?” Moon seemed uncertain.

“Yes, well…,” Burnet twisted the end of her bangs. “From what we know, which… isn’t a lot, we’ve determined that you’re safe. That’s good, right?”

Sun was picking up on the differences with her immediately. It’d be a lie to say his Burnet wasn’t light-hearted, but this one seemed almost goofier than his! 

“However, there are some side-effects.”

Moon recoiled into herself a little, and Sun leaned in nervously. 

“It’s… nothing physical that we know of, but we’re talking about mild amnesia. Maybe.”

Sun felt his heart hit the floor. 

“Like I said, it’s all full of what-ifs and educated guesses. Have you noticed any traces of it? Forgetting simple details, or even large ones.”

Sun shook his head slowly, then more certainly. If the crystal clear image of Burnet reaching out was that fresh in his mind, he was probably ok. “No ma’am, I can’t think of anything.”

Moon just gaped at the professor, terrified. “This morning. The school. I couldn’t… I couldn’t remember it, not even if I tried.” 

Ash’s grin disappeared. “Maybe you just didn’t have a pokemon school in your dimension?”

Moon’s lip quivered. “But I should have known if I didn’t regardless.”

“That doesn’t matter.” 

Moon looked at Sun with glassy eyes, before her face twisted into a scowl, her voice almost dripping with venom. “Doesn't matter?! What do you m--”

“You remember Lillie, right? Hau? Me?”

“You’re really caught up on Hau, huh,” she murmured. 

“He  _ is _ my best friend.”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Those are the big things then, aren’t they?” Ash said carefully. Moon seemed to have calmed down back to normal.

“Right!” Burnet pointed at Ash. “For all we know, this is the end of it. Just tiny details, maybe minor events meshing together.”

“Is there any way to be certain?” Kukui questioned. 

    She inhaled sharply through her teeth in a grimace. “Unless you know someone with more expertise in this than me.” She quickly shook her head and raised her hands. “Not that I’m tooting my own horn! It’s just not a common field of study.”

    Sun thought about the last time he saw Professor Burnet again. His professor. The way he acted on impulse and nothing else, the metallic feel of the table, the inescapable pull of the wormhole. The terror on Burnet’s face. All the way across the room, but still moving as fast as possible to try to save him. But also…

A woman in a dark suit, with lavender hair pulled out of her face. She reached out too, but with a more determined look. He had met her before, somewhere on Poni Island, after his Island Trial, but before meeting Red and Blue the first time. She was with that detective guy, right? They said something about Ultra Beasts and different dimensions. He vaguely remembered Nanu saying something about her being a little too familiar with the concept of falling into other dimensions. He had a name for it, too. Oh, what  _ was _ her name?

“Anabel.”

Everyone in the room reacted with confusion, repeating the name. “Anabel?”

“Yes, yes!” Sun beamed, clenching his fists in excitement. “She would know all about this!”

Moon brightened up. “Of course! She and Mr. Looker told me about this exact thing! Oh, why didn’t I think of it?”

“Wait,” Ash grinned. “I know... one those names! I mean, I haven’t seen him in a while, but you seem to know what you’re talking about!”

“H-Hold on, kids,” Kukui put his hands up in a vague attempt to calm them. “Professor, do we have any records of anyone with those names?”

Oak only seemed to be half there. “Um… maybe? I’m not in charge of records and data and the sort, I don’t know what you’re expecting from me!”

Ash jumped over to Kukui. “He might not know, but I bet Nanu does! He’s a police officer right? He would know about this easily.”

“Not to mention, since Mr. Looker is a detective, he’d have ties to Nanu anyways! If Nanu didn’t know where Anabel was…”

“Then Looker would!” Sun couldn’t control his smile. There was a chance. 

“Easy, easy!” Kukui raised his voice. It was just unfamiliar enough to Sun and Moon to get them to quiet, but on the other hand, familiar enough to Ash to get  _ him _ to be quiet. “The sun is already down, and if I know Nanu, he won’t be up for a talk past 6.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow,” he agreed.

“First thing in the morning?”

“As soon as everyone wakes up.”

“And not a minute later?”

“Yeesh, do you want it notarized or something?” Kukui laughed at his own joke, motioning for the kids to start home. “I promise.”

This was enough for them, and Ash took Moon by the wrist and dragged her outside. She seemed to relieved at the idea of going home to care, only half-listening as Ash rambled on about how much she’d like the house. Sun started to run with them, but stopped himself as he noticed Kukui wasn’t behind them. 

He turned a little, but was instead greeted with the somber voices of Burnet and Kukui. 

“Are you sure you can’t come home?”

“I’m sorry, it’s just… they’re unpredictable.”

Sun almost covered his ears as he heard the word. 

“Don’t apologize, honey, I know it’s serious…”

He had a feeling he didn’t want to hear the rest of the conversation. He ran through the hall, through the classroom, and across the beach. Even though the sun was down, he could see the footprints in the sand where the other kids had gathered. That only stung more, and he ran faster. He hopped over the stairs to the porch, swung open the door, and closed it behind him feverishly. 

Though they couldn’t’ve been there for a minute or two longer than him, Ash was already giving Moon a tour, and encouraged her to let her pokemon out. He thought about asking her why she chose so many similar pokemon, but suddenly, despite sleeping for two days, a wave of exhaustion came over him. He took to the nearest couch.

“Hey Sun, d’you want some dinner?”

No response.

    "Sun?"  


Ash and Moon peeked over the kitchen bar to see Sun completely wiped out, not even taking his backpack off before collapsing.

Ash gave a panicked reaction. “Is he gonna be alright?!” 

Moon gave him a quick once over before popping open her can of soda. “Yeah, he’s just tired.”

“Yeah, but  _ that _ tired?”

“Wouldn’t you be?”

 

Moon just couldn’t sleep. She tried and tried, but a million thoughts raced in her head, and just wouldn’t let her find any peace. She sat up on the couch, lifting her blanket and turning her legs to dangle off the side. She could vaguely make out the two figures of her new companions in the dark, with Sun peacefully curled up on the other couch, and Ash sprawled out on the floor, halfway out of his sleeping bag with Pikachu mimicking a similar position above his arm. 

Moon considered herself more of a night owl, really-- Why waste so much time sleeping when other things could be done?-- but even then, she felt exhausted now. The events of the day on top of kind of sort of not sleeping in the past 24 hours was getting to her. She hadn’t really dozed off since the first night at Olivia’s, but couldn’t feel comfortable enough to the second night. 

Sun shifted, pulling his pillow into a hug, showing a tired smile to the dark that wasn’t looking. Moon fought a sigh.  _ Of course, you wouldn’t know about trouble sleeping, _ she thought to herself.  _ Unconscious for both days? _ She frowned, thinking about his counterpart back home. Sun was reckless, loud and brash, but she could be too, sometimes. She realized she’d never even called him by his name. She wondered if she’d ever be able to now. That set off a chain reaction in her mind. Suddenly, it wasn’t about the boy sleeping over there. It was about if she would ever tell Hau what a genuinely caring person he was, but to be less trusting. This Sun seemed to know Hau really well, and she never got that chance. It was about if she could ever honestly congratulate Gladion for beating her by chance alone. It was about Mallow and Lana and Kiawe and--

Would she ever get Lillie to really open up about why she left home?

Moon got off the couch, tiptoeing through the living room. She spotted light faintly shining from the stairs leading to the lab, and wondered if...

    She trotted down the stairs. The light got brighter the further down she went, and she squinted in defense, carefully taking the handrail. Kukui turned at the creak of the 6th step, and Moon looked at him pitifully, with dark circles noticeable under her eyes.

“Professor, I can’t sleep.”

Kukui immediately shifted into a different mode. “Want some cocoa? It could warm you up some.” 

Without further invitation, she dragged a spare chair across the floor to sit beside him at his desk. “It would just wake up the others.” She rubbed her eyes plainly. “No good. The caffeine would only keep me up longer. Do you have any other tips?”

He shook his head, giving a weak smile. “Normally, that’s what puts me to sleep. I could give you another blanket maybe.”

“It’s not a matter of being uncomfortable, Professor. It’s just… I-- Well I’m…”

She stared at the metal desk, unable to complete her thought properly. “I don’t like this,” she finished in a quiet, almost inaudible voice. “It’s weird.” Her calm, collected nature was fading away the more tired she got, but she just couldn’t bring herself to sleep. She was thinking logically, but could only get out brief sentences, and her throat started to clench and burn. Her eyes felt hot. “It’s like a… a nightmare. I thought I would wake up from it the first day, but now here I am all this time later and-- It’s just weird! There’s no other words that can say it like it is besides weird. I think I know people here but there’s always something off about them. I just want to go home.”

“Is there something off about me?” Moon looked up at him. His face was unfamiliar. His brow was furrowed in a quiet worry, and his mouth was stretched thin in a tight line. She’d never seen her version of him make this face, but it dawned on her what it was; concern. 

Kukui in her dimension didn’t watch over her and Sun like this one watched over Ash. He saw them as a delivery boy and a pharmacist, a real medical scientist in the making. Sun managed his own time and money, and Kukui never interfered. Moon basically did as she pleased whenever, even trying stuff out in his or Burnet’s labs, and he didn’t pay her much mind. He wasn’t devoid of joy or anything, it wasn’t as though he didn’t like the kids! On the contrary, he seemed to like ‘em a lot, but he saw them as… just people. It wasn’t rude, that was just how he was. 

_ This _ professor wasn’t like that. He made lunches for Ash and the others, he gave him tips on how to train pokemon most efficiently, and Ash had even told Moon that the professor told his mother he would make sure Ash stayed out of trouble. This Kukui was a teacher, for crying out loud! When Ash’s Kukui looked at Moon, he didn’t see a skilled medic. He saw a scared girl who was horribly lost, and he needed to help her. She wondered if the Kukui in Sun’s world was like this, too.

“Kind of.”

His face returned to the relaxed smile he always wore. This one she was familiar with, but it had a hint of that worry still left in. “You know, sometimes Ash has nightmares.”

“He does?” She ignored the rain cloud threatening to burst behind her eyes. “He seems so happy though.”

“Happy people still get nightmares, just because someone’s feeling great doesn’t mean their subconscious can’t cook up terrifying things.” He turned his chair to fully face her, and she did the same, hugging her knees to her chest for comfort. “They can get pretty bad. He’s told me about tons. Mostly stuff that happened to him before we met, I think, or worrying about something happening to Pikachu.”

Moon nodded to herself. “He does seem very attached to it.”

“The worst one happened recently. He woke me up almost in tears. It seems a bit hard to imagine him in tears after how he acted today, huh? But there he was. He told me that he dreamed about a world where... “

He scratched his cheek and looked at the wall. “Actually, maybe this story won’t help like I thought it would.”

“You’ve already started it! Now you have to finish.”

He paused before continuing. “It was a world where he had never met any of his friends.”

Moon cringed slightly. “None of them?”

“Not a one. It was only him and Pikachu against the world. He didn’t know anyone, didn’t have a friend or even an enemy in the world. Not even his old pals in Kanto.”

She hugged her legs tighter, furrowing her own brow this time. “You were right, maybe you shouldn’t have told me.”

He put his hand on her shoulder reassuringly. “My point is, maybe this does feel like a nightmare. But, you have someone. Maybe I’m not exactly like the no doubt talented, smart, funny professor on your side--”

She kicked him in the knee, and he laughed.

“But you have me. You have all the kahunas, all of the kids at the school, you even have Sun. Maybe he’s just not quite like yours, but I wouldn’t worry for a second that he wouldn’t try to help you like your friend would. He wants to get back too, you know.” 

Moon set her feet on the floor, holding her hands together in her lap. “Are you sure?”

“Positive. And Ash doesn’t seem keen on letting you get hurt either. You’re tough enough anyways!”

Moon started to rub the fatigue out of her eyes again, but to her surprise, her cheeks were wet. Had she been crying the whole time? 

The professor rose. “It’s pretty late, and we still have to figure more of this out tomorrow. You still wanna pass up that cocoa?”

She sniffed, her nose recently stuffed up from crying. “Maybe some milk would be enough.”

“Right. C’mon, Moon.” He offered her a hand, and she took it, instantly feeling her energy drain. She trudged up the stairs one by one behind him, and when they reached the top he was careful to maneuver her around the sleeping boys. She plopped on the couch, leaning halfway on the back, but not laying down. 

Kukui went to the kitchen, using the light from the fridge to see his way in the dark. He hadn’t taken 2 minutes to get her a glass, but when he returned to the living room, she was fast asleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun Fact: I have a note about this when I was too lazy to write it all. Uh, I guess this part isn't as G-Rated because it was like, four a.m. and I started swearing but here's the excerpt leading to this chapter:   
> "I’m too tired to keep it goin right now but then from there on out he wakes up on the beach, except it’s ANIME WORLD ooOOoooO and then like, a week earlier or something Moon washed up with the same problem, and she’s like “Courier you bastard, i can’t focus on getting both of us back home” and he’s like “??? who are you” BECAUSE MOON DOESNT EXIST IN THE GAMES WITH SUN YKNOW. And then he’s like wait i remember the lady in the dark suit (anabel) and the guy in the trenchcoat (amazingly not inspector zenigata) talked about this, something like dimension hopping, they call people like that fallers, etc etc and moon’s like oh shit i know anabel! From my dimension tho. And sun’s like ok who do we ask for directions and moon goes uhhh the kid who looks like you and points to ash and then ash is like eyyy i'm ash from palet town let’s go find anabel and not-inspector-gadget"


	5. A Dramatic Request (And Entrance)

    As promised, as soon as everyone woke up they headed out for the Po Town police station. Moon would’ve expected Ash to wake up quickly, given how energetic he was, but Sun was up-and-at-’em just as quickly. The two boys laughed at Moon as she dragged herself to the kitchen to grab some food, and she made a mental note to stuff their pillows with grimer sludge later. With barely enough time to grab her things, they waltzed en route to Nanu’s. 

A hop, skip and a boat ride later, they found themselves right in his doorstep, Ash staring quizzically at one of the many meowths on the premises. Kukui had merely dropped them off, so they weren’t getting any backup here, but Ash said not to worry about it; he already knew the guy, and he would definitely listen to them. But as they stepped inside his office, he couldn’t have possibly looked more disinterested. Nanu leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms as Sun explained their plan. Moon tried to help, but seemed to lose her thought process with every “meow” that interrupted Sun’s speech.

“Anabel… Anabel…” Nanu leaned up, repeating the name like it was familiar in some way, but he couldn’t recall why. “I can’t say I know her.”

“Looker, then?” Sun’s voice was losing the tinge of hope.

“That’s a different story.”

Sun and Moon’s hearts sunk.

“...But, it’s possible. It’s just a lot of effort.” He reached down into a drawer, thumbing through some disorganized papers. “I haven’t seen him in a while, who knows where he is or how long it would take to find him.”

“Please, you have to try.” Moon’s face was serious. “He might be our closest chance to finding Anabel, or even just getting home.”

He stood up and rubbed the back of his neck, looking up at the ceiling in thought. “Well, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to try.”

Sun and Moon turned to each other quickly with grins that stretched from ear to ear.

“But!”

“But?”

“It’s only fair you return the favor.”

“Oh, absolutely!”

“Anything!”

He put his hands on his desk and leaned down to their level. “You kids know Team Rocket?”

“Team Rocket?!” Sun gasped.

“Team Rocket…?” Ash turned away from the army of meowths in mild surprise.

“Team… Rocket?” Moon’s voice upturned in a questioning manner. “I thought they disbanded forever ago.”

“I thought I taught that jerk his lesson!”

Ash shrugged. “I thought they were busy with the malasada stand.”

Sun and Moon stopped and looked at Ash blankly. “What?” 

“Those three idiots are stirring up trouble nearby. Just do your thing Ash, they should leave relatively quickly.”

“My thing?” Ash tilted his head.

“Yeah, your thing. If you just look at them long enough that same bewear comes in and drags them off.”

“I guess I hadn’t really thought about it like that. Before, they always kind of launched into th--”

“Whatever it is,” Moon raised her voice above the chatter. “We can get it done while you work.”

“We can’t thank you enough Nanu!”

“Yeah yeah, just get out.”

Ignoring the bitter tone of his demand, the three stepped out with grins on their faces, chiming “Bye!” almost in sync. However, as soon as they were outside, Moon’s face hardened again in determination. Team Rocket? She knew there were strange minor differences, but the presence of such an old-fashioned crime ring threw her off guard. Ash seemed to know them though, so… Time to question.

“Are they dangerous?”

Ash seemed preoccupied with Pikachu again. “Ash.”

“Ash,” Sun echoed.

“Ash.”

“Ash.”

“You guys do a really good impression of an echo,” he smiled, but his voice had a hint of sarcasm. Moon didn’t know he was even capable of that! 

“C’mon, we have to know what we’re dealing with! You’re like… invincible or something, so maybe they don’t pose a threat to  _ you _ , but for all we know, Sun and I are  _ more _ vulnerable.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Anabel told me that when people go through dimensions, their atoms get all frazzled and excitable.”

“She… did?” Sun scratched his head.

“So, we need your backup!”

“I was going to help anyways, guys. I’m not like some grumpy old man you have to win over with favors!”

Moon and Sun gave weak laughs in response. “So, we’re fine with them?”

“As long as you can handle theatrics, yeah!”

The two kids looked at each other nervously as Ash made his way to the woods nearby. “Theatrics…?”

 

Moon had grown accustomed to Alola clothes, and even came to appreciate how easy it was to cool off with them. What she didn’t appreciate was the way her shorts didn’t protect her legs from bushes and sticks. 

A while back when Mallow and her went into the forest on Akala Island, she had teased her about being so fussy about the tiny scratches. She said they added character, but Moon thought it was more like adding extra bandaids. The memory almost hurt, but Ash accidentally thwacking a branch back to Moon’s face hurt more. 

_ There really isn’t any time to stew over thi-- Ohhhhh no…. Stew…. _

“You’ll definitely know ‘em when you see ‘em, right Pikachu?”

The pokemon shook its head in a resigned manner. “Pika…”

Sun ducked under a branch. “How exactly will we know?”

“Do you guys have them?”

“Well… sort of,” Sun answered slowly. “But they were-- Huh! What are the odds?”

“What?” Moon turned back to look at him.

“They were from another dimension! Or, um, multiple ones. The boss guy brought his whole team along, but there were other guys that seemed to be less interested in him and more interested on world-conquery things.”

“That doesn’t sound anything like the Team Rocket I knew,” she mumbled, a little embarrassed for some reason. “The one there has been out of commission since I was little. I heard they used to be a serious threat, but as they faded away they were not much more than a nuisance. No one’s seen Giovanni since--”

“Giovanni! That was that guy’s name!”

“You got the nuisance part right,” Ash grumbled. “It seems like these guys never leave me alone.”

“You got a whole organization on your tail?” Sun straightened incredulously. “That’s pretty intense.”

Ash shook his head quickly as they reached an open patch. “Oh no, not the whole organization, no way! It’s more like… two members that kind of have to do the dirty work.”

“Two members?! Aren’t you forgetting someone?”

The kids froze. Some branches above them shook, leaves fluttering to the dirt. As their eyes watched the leaves, a pair of boots hit the ground. Moon couldn’t do much beyond stare at the woman in front of her, but before she could even process her fully, a second, less successful person followed with a yelp. He handed flat on his butt, gritting his teeth. The first member gave him a warning glance, and he shot up like a bullet. Both of them wore… what seemed like outdated uniforms, definitely ones Moon hadn’t seen before. Despite the quick mishap, they wore smug, haughty smiles. 

The girl was the first to speak. “Prepare for trouble…”

“And make it double!”

“To--”

Ash stepped in, waving his hands to stop them. “Wait, wait! You don’t even know these two.”

“I didn’t realize we had to.” The guy had dropped the smile, caught mid-pose with a baffled look on his face. 

“What difference does it make? If they’re with you, they must be insufferable.”

“Excuse you!” Sun shouted. “You don’t even know me, how can you judge that!”

“I just told you, squirt! You’re with this kid!”

Moon watched in mild horror as the argument unfolded. Children. Actual children. 

Ash ignored their protests. “ANYWAYS, this is Sun, and this is Moon.”

“Hey.” The more argumentative one deadpanned.

“Nice to meet you.”

“I wish I could say the same!” Moon finally collected her thoughts enough to retort. “YOU’RE the feared Team Rocket?!”

“Not just Team Rocket, the best faction of it. You’re standing face to face with Jessie, kiddo.”

“And James!” his face flattened. “Of course, you would know that if the twerp let us finish our bit.”

More leaves flew to the ground. The group looked up as a meowth came careening from the sky. “MEEEOWTH THAT’S RI--” 

And unfortunately landed right onto James’ face, knocking him right back to where he started.

“James! Watch it, will ya?”

“Mm wff t!!” came his muffled reply. He threw the furry pokemon off his head. “Me watch it?! You’re the one who fell onto me!” He stood again, pausing midway this time, as though he expected yet another thing to whack him over. When it was evident nothing else was headed his way, he turned up his nose with a sharp, “hmph!”

“You were in my way!”

“In your w-- You saw me down here, you could have jumped from another branch!”

“What am I, some kinda pachirisu, leapin’ tree to tree?”

The kids watched the exchange like a tennis match. Suddenly, it hit Sun and Moon both at the same time.

“TH-THE MEOWTH--”

“IT’S--”

“Talking?” the pokemon cast them an annoyed glare. “Never heard that one before.”

“That’s incredible!” Moon couldn’t help the sparkle in her eyes.

“That’s mildly terrifying!” Sun stumbled on his words, but held the same amazed look. The kids rushed over to the meowth, and Moon scooped him up as soon as he was in reach. 

“HEY, HANDS OFF!!” She looked in his ears, in his mouth, his eyes, looking for some explanation, but finding none. Sun couldn’t seem to settle in one position to observe, darting from angle to angle. Eventually, he decided to just poke the thing. “Ow! Easy on the merchandise, twerp!”

“Oh, he definitely belongs to you two.”

“Belongs?!” Even more peeved than before, the meowth batted her away, hopping out of her hold. “Listen kid, I don’t belong to anybody!”

Jessie moved between the two. “Can we please continue?!”

Everyone looked at each other before mumbling, “Yeah, ok.”

“Thank you.” She adjusted a glove primly. “Now, what were we saying?”

“Actually, we were looking for you.” 

James didn’t seem to understand those words put together. “Uh?”

“Nanu sent us to put a stop to you!” Sun widened his stance, ready to fight, before briefly losing his determined face. “Although, you seem a lot easier than the Rocket I know.”

“EASIER?!” The trio was fuming already. 

“Is this the part where you battle them, Ash?”

He smiled to himself a little. “I really feel like everyone’s got this down to a formula except me. Yeah, Moon, this is when we--”

“Good.” Quickly, she reached into her bag. She brushed a flat object, but was too preoccupied with grabbing a pokeball out to quite notice. Finally, lugging this thing all around the island was worth something. “Mareanie, go!”

Sun reached around his back, stuffing a hand in his own bag and producing a pokeball. “Incineroar!”

Moon blinked at the huge pokemon towering her own. “I thought you said you had a litten?”

“Had.”

Jessie stretched her fingers before retrieving a pokeball out of thin air, and she tossed it. “Mimikyu, go ahead!”

Pikachu was already raring to go, with Ash twisting his cap backwards. Moon wondered if it was a habit. The fight seemed unfair at first, but considering that the meowth was… well, a meowth, that meant three versus three. Or, it would be, if…

Everyone looked to James in silence.

“James,” Jessie whispered loudly to him. “Didn’t you hear? This is the part when we--”

“I know, but it’ll be awkward.”

“What.”

“I can’t just pull out the pokemon that she has, that makes it strange.”

Moon tilted her head forwards in disbelief. “Are your battles with them always like this?”

“Normally they’re shorter.”

“If you don’t hurry up, it will show up before we even have a chance!” Jessie scolded him and he hurriedly released his own mareanie.

_ It…?  _ Moon remembered Nanu mentioning a bewear that had taken to tormenting the group, and she cooked up an idea. “I have a proposition. Truce?”

Jessie hesitated. “Not until I hear it.”

“You’re on the run, yeah?” She tried to hide any hints of a mischievous smile forming on her face. Sun told her once that when she was set on an idea, she looked like a gastly, and that would be way too much of a giveaway, even if these three weren’t the brightest bulbs. “Me and Sun need help, and coincidentally, so do you.”

“What are you implying, girlie?” 

“Is it so hard for you to use names,” she mumbled to herself in exhaustion. She quickly picked up her former attitude. “If you just… give us a break, skip the battle and insults, then we’ll make sure that it doesn’t come for you.”

“And how are you gonna manage that?” James snarked.

“With me,” Sun pointed at himself with a thumb. “The Champion of Alola, of course.”

“The ch--” Jessie started. “There’s no champion in Alola. There’s not even an Elite Four!”

“Not here, no. Buuut…” he gave Moon a sly smile. “If you’d listened to Ash, you’d understand!”

“That was my line! You just retread over it!” James huffed. “Not like it makes much sense, anyways. An introduction couldn’t explain a sudden Champion.”

“If you come with us, we could explain,” Moon offered.

“Just look at the might of his incineroar!” Ash emphasized with jazz hands. The fire pokemon grinned with pride.

“Don’t feed his ego,” Sun laughed. Meanwhile, the pokemon were all completely confused. After all, they’d been called out for a battle, and their trainers hadn’t said a word to them. Mimikyu took an interest in some nearby berries that had fallen to the root of the tree, Pikachu yawned, and the two mareanie, as James had predicted, weren’t used to seeing each other in battle. 

“Point is, we’re basically a guaranteed stronghold. Stronger than any other pokemon, like, say… a bewear?”

The trio winced. It wasn’t completely awful, hanging out in that tree, but they hadn’t spent more than an hour out in Alola for a month. It had already dragged Wobbuffet back 20 minutes ago. They knew they were next.

It couldn’t be too bad, for just one day, could it?

“What if you’se guys back out on your promise?”

“Then we battle!” Ash beamed. “Same as always!”

Jessie, James and Meowth all skewed up their mouths in thought. They opened their mouths as if to speak, but closed them again. “Give us a minute.” They turned around, ducking and forming a circle.

Ash took the opportunity to drag his own partners into a pep talk. “Moon, are you really sure about this?”

“They don’t pose a threat at all! If you can keep them in check, the three of us together absolutely can. We can all watch over one if we need to! Like…”

“Babysitting.”

“Yeah, Sun! Just like babysittin-- you don’t seem enthusiastic.”

“I don’t know how things were for you, but I don’t think they’re something to toy with.”

They turned to peek at the villains, who had opted to squat on the ground and continue ducking so Meowth was fully involved in the conversation. Jessie was clearly having trouble balancing.

“Okay, point taken. But be careful, alright?”

“Absolutely. Break?”

“Break!”

They returned to their spot, and recalled their pokemon. James gazed over his shoulder, and upon meeting eye contact, quickly focused back on Jessie and Meowth. “They had an in-sync thing at the end. Should we have an in-sync thing at the end?” He’s just as bad at whispering as Jessie. 

“Just nod. Like a fast one, it looks cool,” Meowth answered.

Jessie put her head in her hands before standing. She walked towards the kids coolly, and stuck out her hand. “Truce.”

Moon reached out to shake it only for it to get taken back. “On specific terms.”

“Um, okay?”

“We’re allowed to back out if we feel you aren’t keeping your end of the bargain, AND, it’s a truce with you two, not the twerp.”

“I’m right here!”

“Furthermore, this doesn’t erase your status as twerps. Don’t assume we like you.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Her lip quivered, and she looked back to James and Meowth, who nodded seriously. She carefully stuck her hand out again, and Moon took it before Jessie could add any more demands. “Cool! It’s a done deal. Let’s move it.”

They started back on the path they’d come from, with Team Rocket following like lost puppies. “To where?” Meowth asked.

“Nanu’s. Where else do you turn in criminals?”

“CRIMI-- Who votes we back out of the truce?” James was immediately on edge, and Jessie and Meowth started to raise their hands before Sun turned back and pushed their hands down. 

“She’s joking! She’s joking.”

“But we do have to go by his office. He’s finding someone who can help us get back.”

“To where?” 

“Jupiter.”

“Mars.”

“They’re from an alternate reality kinda!” Ash chimed. “It’s like two worlds where everything is the same but I’m not there!”

“And I’m not either,” grumbled Moon. “That’s kinda an understatement, Ash. But he’s right, that’s the case.”

There was hardly any noise from behind them. Moon was worried that the silence indicated they had snuck off, freaked out. She looked over her shoulder to see the three of them, eyes blown wide but simply staring at the ground, their mouths stretched flat. Moon’s mouth scrunched up to her nose in a vague concern over how a meowth could make the exact same expression as a person.  _ Can they really manage to do everything in sync without noticing? _

Jessie noticed her looking, and Moon quickly faced forwards again while Jessie wiped the blank look off her face. “I can’t say I’m surprised, if I’m honest.” The other two murmured in agreement.

“We’ve seen some weird stuffs,” Meowth added.  _ What a riot coming from you. _

“I hope you realize this whole protection deals means you’ll likely have to sit through these shenanigans.” Moon sighed in relief as they walked out of the trees, feeling less cuts than before.  _ Couldn’t hurt to bandage them though, maybe. It’s not like I’m going to be here much longer, I don’t need to save supplies or anything _ , she told herself. She wasn’t sure if she entirely bought it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! I was a Team Rocket stan all along and I've tricked you into reading a Rocket fic.   
> Jessie, James and Meowth are just too much fun to NOT imagine them meeting Sun and Moon. I mean, Sun has experience with bad guys that aren't really that bad, and Moon is nicknamed "Poison Girl" in the manga, so you know she'd get along with them. But at the same time, they'd clash enough to add comedy! Why am I analyzing my own work!!!


	6. The Investigation Begins

“Hmm.”

Moon awkwardly bounced back and forth on her heels, as Sun whistled, both of them staring at the ceiling. Ash stood so close to Team Rocket they probably could’ve swiped Pikachu then and there, but they wouldn’t dare try it here. Not only did they stop Team Rocket from… whatever they were doing, (probably just being a general nuisance) but they brought them directly into Nanu’s office, and all he could say was “Hmm”?

“Yeah?”

“Hmm.” Nanu looked the perps up and down. “Hmm.”

“I guess I should have been more specific,” he went on. “But you did what I asked, so… You three, go fish through that file cabinet.”

Jessie stiffened. “Says who?”

“Says me, or else I’ll lock you up.”

“I knew this was a bad idea,” Meowth grumbled, trotting over to the towering cabinet. The old thing was coated with dust, but it seemed neat enough. But as soon as he pulled out a drawer, they were proven very, very wrong. A burst of papers flew out everywhere, stuffed in at every angle who knows how long ago. 

Team Rocket stared at the beginnings of the mess. They looked back at Nanu. “Hop to it!” he declared, and they sighed before wading through the papers. Nanu directed his attention back to the kids. “It’s a joke,” he said more quietly. “You think I still use that thing? I’ve got it all here,” he knocked on the top of an ancient computer. Moon thought it looked just as old and musty as the cabinet, but held her tongue. “I just wanted them outta my hair for now. Of course, there’s no telling how accurate it really is.”

He sat down in front of it, with Sun and Moon standing on either side of him while Ash stood on his tiptoes to look above his head. “Here, take a  _ look _ .” 

“Very funny,” Sun rolled his eyes.

The display was grainy, but the man in the file photo was definitely him. Despite only having a brief encounter with the detective, his sharp hairstyle, long trenchcoat made him instantly recognizable. She remembered mentioning to Anabel while they had spent time together that she wasn’t sure Looker cared for her much. “He always scowls,” she told her. Anabel laughed and said that he wasn’t scowling at all, that was just his thinking face. Based on the photo, this universe’s Looker wasn’t too different. 

Amidst the mountains of text and newspaper clippings from multiple regions, she spotted a series of numbers. Nanu must have noticed it at the same time, because he made a vague “mhmm” noise. He stood and Ash, who was putting all his weight against the chair, almost fell back at the sudden shift. He took a sticky note and uncapped a pen, copying the numbers. He tore off the note and without even looking, stuck it on Ash’s hat. 

“I have a feeling you know what to do, hmm?”

Ash looked up at his hat, and Moon thought about how he wouldn’t even really be able to see the note thanks to the brim. Not that it mattered, too much. They were already one step closer to getting home now! “Uh, thanks Nanu!” said Ash. “But why don’t you just call him yourself?”

Nanu made a noise similar to a scoff and a “tch” simultaneously. “He’s probably busy who knows where, I’m not gonna be the one to step in his way. Besides, I filled my end of the bargain and you’re grown kids.”

“We’re 11.”

“I thought we were all 10...” Ash spoke to himself more so than the other two. 

“Hey, if you’re old enough to tote around a walking vat of poison, you can handle a trip to the phone booth.”

“Mareanie is NOT a vat of poison!” Moon cried, offended.  _ Wait. Mareanie. _

“Oh, crap, Team Rocket…”

Sun’s eyes grew tired from the mere mention of those three, but he smiled. “Wow, Moon, I wonder whose idea it was to drag along Team Rocket.”

Moon stuck her tongue out and turned around, heading over to tell Team Rocket they were ready to go, but as she got halfway there, she realized she’d never heard Sun say her name before. It was weird. Were the two of them really that formal, in her dimension? Ash didn’t waste any time in operating on a first-name basis with these two strangers. 

“Hey, dumb and dumber, we’re heading out. We got what we needed!”

“Wh-- How?” Jessie dropped a stack of papers. “We’re the ones wading through the garbage!”

“Turns out Nanu had what he needed on the computer,” she grinned.

The mess of papers James had in front of him shuffled, and to his surprise Meowth had been buried underneath. “WHAT?!”

“No hard feelings? C’mon, let’s go!” She waved them over as she ran out to join Ash and Sun, who had already walked out. There was no doubt they were annoyed, but if the alternative was sticking around in this place? Meowth was already feeling all the other pokemons’ eyes on him. He hopped out of the pile and trailed after her, Jessie and James shrugging and following suit. 

_ What a weird party we’ve got _ , Moon thought to herself as she stepped out the door.  _ Three trainers, three criminals, one of them being a  _ talking pokemon _ , and a phone number.  _

“Hold it,” Nanu called after them, taking the note off of Ash’s hat and handing it to him instead. “It’s gonna rain later, we don’t want the numbers smearing.”

“Rain in Po Town?” Sun giggled. “Imagine that.”

Moon didn’t give the comment too much thought. “Thanks Nanu. Really!”

“Don’t mention it,” he waved his hand dismissively and closed the door. James stared at the handle for a little while. 

“Do we… go now?”

“I thi--”

“Yeah.”

“Yes. Now we go.” It seemed everyone was covering up the strange uncertainty with their voices. They took a step off the porch, immediately regretting the truce. The silence was deafening as they treaded to the nearest phone booth. 

But apparently, Meowth wasn’t a fan of quiet. “So. Other dimension, huh?”

“Mhmm.” 

“Yup.”

“What am I like?” He was walking closer to Sun and Moon now, standing in between the two. She’d be lying if she said it wasn’t weird, trying to hold a normal conversation with him. “Y’know, th--”

“Yeah yeah, I know. It’s the first question everyone asks!”

“In his defense,” Jessie interjected. “If you heard someone talking about a dimension where everything where everyone was there, but with minor tweaks, what would you ask them?”

“How I could help them get home?” Sun said flatly. 

“So?” Meowth looked up at them.

“I…” Moon wasn’t sure how to say they didn’t exist. Ash knew before he met her, so there was no awkward conversation there. Of course, when Sun met her, he told her outri--

“Hard to say, I don’t think you’re there.”

“HUH?!”

This caught Jessie and James’ attention too. “Seriously? No wonder you were so surprised when you saw him!” Jessie laughed.

“WAIT.” James held his hands out. “Is there… a me?”

“Nope. No Jessie, either.”

This cut Jessie’s laughter off. “Hey!”

“I didn’t know that,” Ash tapped the sticky note in his hands. “So it’s not just me and Pikachu, it’s Team Rocket too!” He started laughing.

“Oh, shut up,” Jessie grumbled.

“Wait! Look!” Sun grabbed Moon’s arm, pulling her the opposite direction. “There!”

Lined up neatly with the sidewalk was a large phone booth. Moon was surprised she hadn’t seen it, because the sunlight reflected off of it in such a way it was almost too bright to look at too long. She couldn’t imagine the wave of heat that would hit them when they opened the glass box. All that heat going in, with nowhere to go out? Practically a greenhouse! Sun pointed at it, and Team Rocket decided to wait inside the building next to it; Jessie said something about not exactly being well-liked around here. 

The kids ran up to it, and as expected, when Sun opened the door, his face scrunched up at the heat. He seemed unaffected though, because he hopped in anyways. “Quick, Ash! The paper!”

“Huh? OH, RIGHT!” He quickly stuck the paper out at Sun, along with a little money. Sun dialled at record speed. If it weren’t for the dire circumstances, Moon might’ve laughed at how silly they looked over a phone call. Sun pressed the receiver up to his ear, and the other two kids leaned in to hear. 

It wasn’t like they could hear anyways. Someone picked up, and they could vaguely hear their voice speaking to Sun. “Uh, yes. Yes sir. I wasn’t aware this wasn’t a direct line, sir, I’m just trying to contact-- Pardon?”

Moon suddenly became aware of the uncomfortable tone Sun expressed. “Oh, no no not at all, I’m just trying to talk to-- I haven’t even said who yet! But sir, I’m not-- This is serious. No, I’m not exaggerating! It’s not somethi…”

Sun stood in silence. Moon couldn’t hear the indecipherable voice on the phone anymore. He hung it back on the hook, and pushed the other two aside to exit the booth. They frowned at each other before hopping out along with him.

“The man on the line said to only call for serious things. He thought I was just… just a dumb kid! He didn’t  _ sound _ like Looker either, so I don’t… I don’t think I even got a word in to him!”

“He sounds so rude,” Ash grumbled. “You were respectful enough!”

“I don’t think it was a matter of respect. I just don’t think he was willing to listen to someone who sounds like a squeaky tire.”

Sun bristled. “Squeak-- I don’t sound that high-pitched! My voice is average!”

“Soooo,” an unexpected voice rung out, interrupting the beginnings of an argument. “How did it go?”

Moon looked up to see a guy in Alolan clothes, albeit less tasteful and more tacky than others she had seen. He had sunglasses too big for his face, and a baseball cap covering his head. If it wasn’t for the bright purple hair poking out underneath, she could’ve been convinced. But, there was bright hair poking out underneath. Not many people have a voice like that, either.

“Wait. Voice.” she said aloud.

“Huh?”

“Your voice! You sound enough like an adult to pass off as one!”

“P… Pass off? I’ll have you know that I’m--”

“Just get in the booth James!” Sun and Moon cried at the same time.

They pushed him into it quickly, stuffing the number and yet again, more money into his hands. Sun slammed the door shut. James’ glasses had slid down his nose a little, showing his completely confused and shocked expression. 

Ash tilted his head. “James…?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be honest, I normally only post stories once I have them finished so that I can maintain a normal schedule, buuuut I was too antsy to get this one out there. Writing isn't really my forte, so I thought writing about something I love (like Pokemon!) would jumpstart my abilities again. And given that this doc has 50 pages and counting, this is... definitely turning into something. ALSO, next up, we're jumping into Ash's point of view!


	7. Enter Looker

    Ash scratched his head as Sun and Moon slowly spun around to face him. “What?”

    “Buddy…” Sun said slowly. “You had to-- How many people do you know with hair like that? He’s like-- I can’t describe his voice as anything besides a whinny.”

    “His hair is like a metallic purple. How many people do you know with hair like that?”

    “Aren’t you guys looking for a lady with purple hair?”

    The other two went quiet. “Good point.”

    “Touche.”

    James opened the door and leaned out, but didn’t fully exit the booth. “Excuse you! Just what am I supposed to do with this?”

    Ash started to shove him back in. “Just call the number, sound adult! Sound professional! Ask for Looker.”

    “Looker?” James said in surprise. “Looker Looker? As in--”

    “Just go with it! Leave the door open if you have to, we’ll tell you what to say.”

    He still looked unsure, but Ash kept grinning. James slid the money into the box, and punched the numbers in. He raised the phone up to his ear. The faint ring buzzed, just loud enough that the kids could hear it.

    Ash clapped his hands together as if brushing off dust. “There we go.”

    A muffled reply came from the other end and James started. “YE-- Hrm, Yes, hello.” Ash noticed that he purposefully deepened his voice, and leaned against the side coolly. _He’s not very convincing_ , Ash thought exasperatedly. “I’d like to speak with… with Number 836.”

    The kids’ faces dropped. “Who are you talking about?!” cried Moon.

    He held up a finger, and pointed at the phone. “He’s not too busy, hmm? I just have a job for him, he’ll be paid handsomely.” He gave them a big grin and a thumbs up.

    Ash shook his head in horror. Sun looked like he was about to rip his hair out. “We don’t have any more cash, you idiot!”

    “Yes, I’ll wait. Thank you, sir.” James covered the receiver with his hand. “People don’t do things for you unless you butter them up! Even I know that. Jeez, no wonder he wouldn’t reroute your call.” He dropped the phone into Ash’s hands. “Be polite.”

    “Yeah, comin’ from you,” Ash mumbled. He listened to the phone.The hold music was gritty and distorted, which he thought was odd, but remembered that people didn’t really use traditional phones as much as they used to. Heck, even back when I met Misty and Brock we just video-chatted with Professor Oak. I wonder why Looker still has one?

    A click sounded. “Hello?”

    “Heheh, hey Looker. We uh, we have a favor to ask.”

    The voice on the other end was quiet for a millisecond, and Ash felt his neck prickle in anticipation. “You know, no one really uses phones anymore.”

 

    Ash couldn’t really remember the last time he’d seen Looker. It was a long long while ago, that’s for sure… Was it Unova? Hoenn? No, no it definitely wasn’t Hoenn. The name was familiar enough to draw up a face when Sun and Moon had brought him up, but speaking to him after so long was another story. He was a lot more straight-laced than most adults Ash knew, definitely more than half the professors. _No wonder he and Nanu used to hang out_ , Ash thought. They both worked for the police out of a sense of duty, but for Nanu that duty was more “It has to be done” than Looker’s “The right thing must be done” mindset.

    Ash had been in the booth for a while, to the point that Meowth and Jessie had also come out of the store. Or at least, he assumed based on James’ reaction. He had tapped on the glass, fidgeting as he told Looker he needed to come to Alola as quickly as he could. It seemed like Looker was always busy, so Ash almost felt guilty telling him to drop everything and bus on over. Ash told him they were having troubles with some kids his age, in fact, interdimensional troubles. He swore he heard Looker drop the phone on the other end before quickly picking it up and insisting he was packing his bags immediately.     The line went dead.

    And here they were. Sitting awkwardly at the corner, in a silence but… a serene one. It had been a long day, and they were all noticeably tired, so no one minded the peace. The sun was setting in a way that it only barely showed over the trees around them, and if he turned his chin up he could see stars peeking out already. But he didn’t look at the sky. He looked at Sun and Moon. He looked at Jessie and James. He looked at Meowth and Pikachu.

In a weird way, it felt nostalgic. It shouldn’t’ve, he knew that. But there was something weirdly comforting in seeing Sun and Moon pick at each other, and Ash joking back. He looked at Team Rocket, all half asleep. It looked like the three of them formed a pyramid, Jessie and James leaned together like a tent with Meowth resting in the space between, his eyes drooping in blinks that lasted too long. Ash smiled to himself a little bit and turned to get Sun’s attention. The other boy turned around, and Moon looked around his shoulder. Tired, quiet laughter emitted from the two.

“I guess there’s a reason they’re a team.” Sun whispered.

    Moon wrinkled her nose at Sun’s remark. “C’mon, that’s corny.”

    “He’s right though, I think.” Ash turned his attention to the sky. “They do kinda stick together. You have to admire friends that can stick through all that arguing.”

    By now, they were officially asleep, save for Meowth. He pinched his cheek, trying to force himself awake. Ash watched as he drowsily climbed out from between them, and crawled, more like a persian than a meowth, into Sun’s lap. He rolled onto his back and immediately gave in to sleep. Sun looked more than surprised by the gesture, and gave Ash a confused look.

    “Just um…” Ash wasn’t sure what to do either.

    “Pet him?” Moon suggested.

    Sun carefully put a hand on Meowth’s head. Moon made a strange face.

    Ash spoke even quieter, enough that Sun wouldn’t quite be able to hear. “Are you okay?”

    “Yeah… Yeah, it’s just familiar.”

    “It’s weird.”

    “Definitely.”

    “I meant the fact Meowth would let anyone pet him, but yeah, the situation is weird too.”

 

    The next morning, Kukui called Rotom Dex and informed them they would meet Looker by the docks. Ash wish he had recorded the professor’s face when he saw Team Rocket peeking over his shoulders to see the screen.

“Don’t you think that’s a lot of people going to meet one guy?”

“Is it? James said that he and Jessie know the guy, Sun and Moon need his help, and Pikachu HAS to be there.”

“Right. Just be careful.”

“Will do, bye!”

And so they waited. And waited. And waited. Despite getting a full night’s sleep, Jessie yawned. Moon tapped her foot. Sun whistled. Nothing they did seemed to pass the time. It was nearly lunchtime by now, and they had yet to eat.

“At least the bewear fed us,” James grumbled.

Moon bristled. “Would you prefer to go back?”

“Did I mention what a lovely day out it is?” he quickly backtracked. “This sea breeze is sooo nice, right guys?”

“Oh yeah,” Meowth nodded. “Gets ya nice and warm but keeps you just cool enough. I sure do love helping twerps!”

“You’re overselling it.”

“See, the weather is even making Jessie happier than normal! She hasn’t shouted once!”

Jessie glared down at him, but smiled a little. “Okay, yeah, it is pretty nice.”

Ash felt like he was interrupting something, but if he kept the conversation going then Looker would get here faster, right? “Maybe I should hang out here a little longer, huh?”

“Please.”

“It’s a lot warmer than regions you normally terrorize.”

Sun leaned into Ash’s line of sight to get his attention. “Do you normally travel a lot?”

“Oh, all the time! I think I’m the only kid at the school who hasn’t lived here their whole life.”

“That’s how it was for me, too! I had to move in all the way from Kanto--”

“What!” Ash’s face split into a grin. “You too? No way!”

“Wait.” Sun turned to Moon, who was fixing the ocean with a cold gaze. “Where are you from?”

“Kanto, right?”

“It would be so weird if all of you were from Kanto…” Jessie mumbled.

“Sinnoh.”

“Oh, bummer, I was hoping we were all--”

She turned. “I think my version of Sun was from Sinnoh, too. I never asked, but he wasn’t Alolan. Maybe he was from Kalos?”

“Man, sounds like I’ve been all over the map.”

“I know I have,” Ash puffed his chest out proudly. “Kanto, Johto,” his eyes widened briefly. “Sinnoh! That’s where I knew him from, I met him in Si--”

A loud horn cut through the air, making the six (seven, if you counted the one who couldn’t talk) party members jump a whole foot off the ground. A black and white boat pulled into the dock slowly. Waves sloshed around, threatening to break onto the wood. It was… a little big, for one event. Ash supposed that was just what Interpol was like. As soon as he was done processing the scale of it, the horn blared again, and Ash covered his ears. “It’s kinda loud.”

    An almost inaudible response from the others: “What?”

    “I said, it’s kinda loud!”

    “WHAAAT?”

    “I SAAAAID--” the blaring ceased. “IT’S KIND OF LOUD!!”

    “Easy on the shouting,” a voice spoke from above them as shoes creaked on the wooden ramp. “I’m right here.”

    The kids instinctively ran straight to the ramp to meet him. “Wait, wait!” he cried. This thing can only support so many people, back up!!” In a compromise, they stood at the exact spot where the ramp met the dock instead. Looker seemed exhausted already. “Can I get off the boat, please.”

    “Right, sorry.”

    “Of course.”

    Two steps back. He sighed, but it was enough. He cleared his throat and straightened his collar before stepping onto the dock. “So, otherworldly phenomena, huh?”

    All three kids proceeded to shout at once. He walked between them, putting his hand on his chin and nodding. The kids quieted down a little, and he nodded for them to keep walking. Ash had a feeling Looker was only going along with them. They passed by where Team Rocket stood, still a little dumbstruck from the boat’s sudden appearance. “Hey guys.”

    Jessie spun around and pulled James with her. “I thought you were kidding,” she hissed quietly.

    “You three stayin’ out of trouble?”

    They quickly faced forward again. “Uh, of course!”

    “Obviously!”

    He gave an aside glance to the kids and winked. “Still liars though, I see.” Ash started to cackle.

    “That’s no way to greet someone!” But regardless, they followed him onto the streets towards Malie City. They walked between the buildings, across the neat concrete sidewalk, and directly into…

    “The… library.”

    “Where else can you start an interrogation?”

    “We aren’t criminals!” Ash shouted. Team Rocket glared at him. “Most of us.”

    “I know that,” Looker said, holding the door open and gesturing for the others to enter. “But if I can get an idea of the different perspectives on the situation, it’ll make... solving it easier.”

    “What is there to solve?” Sun asked. “We were home, then the wormhole swallowed us up, now we’re here, and you’re the only one with previous experience on the matter to help. That’s it.”

    He grinned. “It’s never that easy. Ash, come with me upstairs. Everyone else, uh… grab a book and get comfy. We could be here a while.”

    Sun and Moon dropped their weight onto some plush chairs while Jessie, James and Meowth grumbled and sat on the floor. Ash tried not to laugh as Looker led him upstairs.

    He’d been in the library once or twice before, it wasn’t new. He wasn’t exactly used to it in this circumstance, though. Looker pushed off the other chairs and turned off the lights, except a single desk lamp. “For effect,” he said. He stood in front of the table as Ash sat down.

    “So, what do you know, Ash?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No witty commentary this time, dudes. Man, I write a LOT of dialogue.


	8. Ash's Side Of The Story

“I know that Sun and Moon are not happy children.”

Looker put his hand to his head. “I mean, about when they showed up.”

“No, no! I know that!” Ash cried out. “This is integral to your understanding when they get up here!”

“Integral.”

“Yes!” He paused. “Okay, maybe only a little. But when they get up here don’t be surprised if Sun is pretending like everything is ok and Moon is acting like she understands everything that’s going on.”

Looker’s eyes widened a little and he took out a tiny notebook. _This is pretty by-the-book interrogation, isn’t it...?_ “You’ve already got a read on their personalities?”

Ash laughed a little. “Yeah, it’s easy! They’re as transparent as a lightscreen. Right from the moment Sun woke up he was all quiet and angsty, and then when we met up with everyone else he acted like a perky, happy kid! What’s up with that besides him hiding something?”

    He smiled.  “Look at you, mini-detective on the case. A regular Conan.”

“Very funny.”

“So he woke up? From where?”

“First, Professor Kukui, Pikachu and I were eating lunch--”

“Indoors, or out?”

“Inside, in the living room. We’re talking, and then he makes a weird face when he looks out the window. He puts down his plate, turns off the tv and asks me if I see anyone outside. I don’t at first, but when I squint I notice there’s someone on the beach.”

“On the beach?”

“Lying there. But not in a relaxed why. Their arms are at uncomfortable angles and one of their shoes is halfway off.”

Looker made a face of his own. “When you say uncomfortable angles…”

“Nothing twisted or broken,” Ash shook his head. “Just… yeah just uncomfortable! Like one was behind his back. So Professor goes out, and I follow him to go pick up the kid. We drag him inside, throw him on the couch, and he tells me to call Nurse Joy while he checks for a pulse.”

“What’d Nurse Joy say?”

“She said he was fine, there was no sign of a concussion or anything! She said something about signs of exhaustion, and I made a joke about knowing how that feels, but no one laughed.” Ash looked up. “I think that was when I knew how bad it was.”

“How long did he take to come to?”

“Two days.” He said flatly.

“TWO DAYS?!” Looker dropped his notepad to the floor and quickly scrambled to pick it up again. “How long have these two been here without you telling me?”

“Let’s see, if we spent two days with him unconscious, then the first night with Moon, then forming a truce, then…” Ash counted on his fingers. “Day five is today!”

“Two whole days…”

“He was awake for a little while the second day though, only enough to get some fresh water. But that’s not all that happened on the first day. You see, after we called Nurse Joy, she told the kahunas, and Olivia freaked out because something similar happened on Akala Island earlier that morning. Except the kid in her case wasn’t found, she showed up, completely conscious. Olivia said she looked really tired, but she was awake enough to explain that she felt something was really wrong.”

“And that would be Moon.” He licked his thumb and flipped over to a new page.

“Mhmm. So the professor and Olivia and pretty much everyone who knows is weirded out, and he tells me to stay with the kid for as long as it takes while he tries to figure out what’s going on. And I do! Next thing you know, I wake up one morning to hear Rowlet screeching and a boy yelling, and I automatically know what’s up!”

Looker wrote something down, then looked back at Ash with a slightly nervous face. “That’s… You’re very excited about this, aren’t you?”

“It’s not everyday you meet a kid who lived in a universe just like your’s. Except you’re not there! Or Team Rocket, either.”

“Speaking of, am I gonna get an explanation for those three being here?”

“Besides them always ending up where I am?” Ash laughed at himself. “Yeah, there’s different circumstances. Moon made a treaty with ‘em yesterday in exchange for not getting kidnapped by a bewear!”

Looker stared at Ash.

“Aaanyways, he doesn’t tell me right away, but after he wakes up I find out the deal. We go to Iki Town, go see the kahunas altogether and then MOON comes in, and she says she already knows him! But he’s like, “WHAAA, that’s impossible, I don’t know you!” and she says some stuff only he would know or something.”

“I see. How strange.”

“That’s what I thought!” Ash was standing now, gesturing wildly. “She even named his pokemon! But even later, she was telling me that he wasn’t exactly like her Sun. This one was nicer, she said. I asked her if everyone was that mean in her world and she hit the back of my head.” He laughed. “We slept at the lab, then we went to Nanu’s-- No, wait, first we went to the school. They didn’t like that.”

Looker let the silence hang in the air for a moment. When it was obvious Ash wasn’t going to elaborate, he prodded. “What do you mean?”

“Sun made weird faces. Moon didn’t make eye contact with anyone. Moon seemed in a hurry to get out of there, especially as more people came in. She wasn’t kidding when she said she knew them, and I guess Sun wasn’t either. I heard them arguing in the hall when we went back to meet Burnet.”

“Yeesh, you’re gonna have to help me construct a timeline at this rate.”

Ash realized he was still standing, but slumped over now. “They really want to get back, Looker. A whole lot. They seem… I think they know you, too.”

“Do they?”

“Their versions of you anyways. Sun said he remembered you and a woman named Anabel asking him about Ultra Beasts, and Moon said something like that, except you weren’t there as long. She said she mostly stuck with the Anabel lady.”

“Anabel…?”

“We asked Nanu if he knew of an Anabel, but there weren’t any records of an Anabel living in Alola. Or even passing through! But Sun said she was one of the last people from his dimension he saw. Moon said--”

“Slow down, Ash.” He put a hand on Ash’s shoulder. “I can ask Sun and Moon what they said later. What happened after you talked to Nanu?”

“He said he could find you since you were the closest shot they had at a tie to Anabel. We made a trade off, ended up with Team Rocket, called you, then you showed up and now we’re here.”

Ash put his hands down quietly. Even though Looker asked, he felt like he talked too much. Looker didn’t seem to share the sentiment though. He wrote one last thing down, then shoved the pad back into his pocket without closing it. “Alright, that’s a pretty good start. Any last words?”

Ash gave Looker a horrified look.

He was quick to react to what he’d just said. “NO, NO, AS IN--” He put his hands up. “Final thoughts! UH, last comment? They all sound awful…” he mumbled. “Anything left to say,” he finally settled on.

“Would-- Can I ask you some questions?”

“Might as well, since we’re in here.”

“Why did you come to quickly when we brought up other dimensions? Do you… have you dealt with this before?” Looker glanced to the side. “Moon said that you used the term ‘fallers.’”

He tensed a little. “It was a while back. Something… bad, happened. But what’s done is done, you can’t change the past, etc etc. Let’s move on.” He walked around the table to guide Ash out. 

“Wait, I didn’t mean it personally! I was just curious! HOLD ON!!” 

Ash turned to face him again. “One more question, this one is related to the case, honest.”

“Alright, what?”

Ash knew what he wanted to say, but it was hard to get it out. If they go home, will they forget me? How do dimension… rips, shifts, whatever, how do they work? Will I forget them? Is there any way I could talk to them even after all this? But none of those came out. “Can you get them home?”

Looker seemed surprised for a second at the bluntness of the question, but he sighed one last time and smiled. “No promises, but I’ll try my best.”

They went back to meet the others. Whatever librarian was running the place seemed to have taken the chair Team Rocket was fighting over away, as they sat on the floor like distressed kindergarteners. Ash laughed on sight.

“See how you like it!” cried James.

“This is absolutely rude,” Jessie declared with her arms crossed.

“Actually,” Meowth said, fidgeting with the carpet. “It’s pretty normal for me.”

They proceeded to bicker some more, and Looker shook his head while holding the same smile as before. It seemed silly, but Ash wondered if he missed them. Looker asked Moon to follow him, and as soon as she stood up, the trio exchanged glares. Before any of them could park it on the cushion, Pikachu hopped on the chair, scooting over for Ash as soon as he was close enough. 

“Spoilsport,” Meowth hissed.

As soon as Moon was out of sight, Sun turned to Ash. “How did it go?”

“Boring,” Ash lied. “What happened while I was gone?”

“Eh, they didn’t fight too long. Mostly they just kept to themselves. Me ‘n’ Moon talked a little.”

“What about?”

“More differences in Alola.”

Sun didn’t seem keen on elaborating but that hadn’t stopped Ash before. “Like?”

“We talked about threats.”

Ash almost laughed again at the bluntness of the statement. “Threats?!”

“WELL, NOT... “ Sun paused to think. “Not like we were being threatened, just general… bad… guys?” He ended his sentence with a glance at Team Rocket, then back to Ash. “Things seem easier around here.”

Ash thought about how NOT easy things were around there. He thought about the countless times he’d met people crueler than he ever imagined. He thought about how many times, and yes, it was weirdly frequent, his friends had come into danger. But when he followed Sun’s eyes to the three buffoons sitting a ways away, laughing and shouting and endlessly getting shushed by library patrons… Sun’s accusation seemed fair. “Are things hardcore there?”

“Only if you count an evil scientific lab pretending to be a hippie organization hardcore. And teens. OH, and Team Rocket, but worse. Way worse.”

“T...Teens?”

“Not so much anymore,” Sun drawled out the ‘n’ in ‘not.’ “They kinda… quit. Their boss told them to when he decided to stop bullying everyone.” He proudly straightened. “I like to think I had something to do with it, too.”

“You won him over with friendship?”

“Heck no, I totally butchered his sorry--”

“Wait! I know what you’re talking about! You mean the Aether Foundation? Team Skull, right?”

“So things are more similar than we realized! How monstrous is Lusamine, here? How angry was Guzma?”

“Lusamine, monstrous? I wouldn’t go that far…” Ash quickly realized he’d assumed too much. Lusamine was a strange woman who made bad choices, but she wasn’t that bad. At least, he didn’t think so... “Guzma?”

“He’s the bo-- Former boss of Team Skull. You don’t know him?”

Ash thought for a bit. “Sounds familiar, but I can’t think of his face. Is he like, super bad?”

Sun started laughing. “Depends on who you ask! Moon says that her version of him is a complete jerk. He bosses everyone around and yells all the time, he crashes in when he’s unwanted, and then I told her that was what mine was like too! Except, he kinda realized how mean he was. I thought he’d give up the team to Plumeria or something, but nope, it's out now.”

_ Plumeria I do know. Still, things are so different I’m not sure I want to bring it up. _

“He doesn’t sound tolerable at all.”

Sun shrugged with a smile. “He’s getting better. At the niceness thing, y’know? He even helped me and Lillie with some bigger bad guys. Hala says he has potential, and that it’s not too late to start.” Sun seemed to veer off his train of thought. “Your Hala seems really nice, too.”

“He is,” Ash smiled. “He’s like… Like the head of all of Melemele, maybe even all of Alola! But he’s just a nice guy who wants to help people, too.”

Sun’s smile faded. “Ash, I think…”

“Yeah?”

“I think we should take more time to talk.” Ash made a perplexed face. “Y’know, cuz,” Sun gestured up the stairs, continuing. “We don’t know how much time we’ve got left to hang out.”

“Right…”

“But I like talking to you, man!” Sun’s face was bright again. “You’re funny, you seem to know a lot but still manage to goof up,” he punctuated with a giggle. “Maybe people just automatically like you, huh?”

Goof up? “Not everyone.”

“Eh, maybe not right away. But you’re cool. I think that if you were there, back home, we would’ve been friends.”

“You do?”

“Sure! You like the sort of things we do anyways! At least, I think you do.”

Ash beamed. “You really think so man?”

“As long as you’re in for the initiation…” Sun’s face went sinister. “The hundred malasada challenge.”

“You call that a challenge? I c--”

Looker and Moon came down the stairs in silence. Neither of them looked overly happy, but they wore different expressions all the same. Ash was starting to think that Moon was like those plants he would see in the ocean, where any time something got close to it it recoiled. Maybe Ash was wrong about Sun, maybe he was a happy kid, just not when he was this far from home. But Moon was more than unhappy here. Looker, however, had that specific twist to his face that showed he was thinking hard about something. After all, Moon had more information on this Anabel lady than he did. 

“Sun, right?”

“Yeah, yeah, I know it’s my turn.” He stood up, leaving the chair open… but amazingly, no one ran to claim it. As Moon sat down again, Ash looked at Team Rocket. They were huddled together again, but it seemed like instead of a plan, they were just talking. Ash squinted. It never amounted to just talking. 

He glanced at Moon. She sat completely straight, 90 degree angle. Her eyes were closed, and she was dead silent.

_Oh boy_ , he thought with a grimace.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MOON REALLY ISN'T A COLD KID, she's just under a lot of stress. And hey, at least Sun is feeling better now! Our trio is becoming friends!


	9. The Library

“This place… sure has a lot of books, huh?” Ash said a little too loudly. Loud enough that Jessie looked over at him. 

“Yup,” Moon spread her fingers out. “Sure does.”

Team Rocket had stopped talking too. Ash was too aware of the silence. “What… do you guys think of it?”

“Collectively, or individually?” 

_Whatever gets me an answer_. “I think it’s boring,” Meowth answered sharply. “You might not know this, but certain pokemon aren’t allowed in.”

“Size issues?”

Meowth spotted a stray scrap of torn paper out of the corner of his eye, and quickly put his foot over it. “You could say that.”

“It’s not too bad, but then again, I’m not allowed to see the whole place yet,” Jessie spoke through gritted teeth. “This is taking too long and my butt is starting to go numb.”

“We just have to wait for Sun,” Moon said with a dismissing wave. 

“Unless he asks him a ton of questions.”

The Team turned to Ash in horror. “He better not!” shrieked James.

Things got silent again. “This conversation is awful,” Jessie commented. Everyone nodded.

_ What am I supposed to say?! _ Ash thought. His eyes darted around the room for more topics, but… being surrounded by books, in a library? You weren’t supposed to talk to begin with. He supposed he could just take the time to relax since things were so stressful lately, but here, the change of pace was uncomfortable. Less jarring and more slow, painful. He looked at Moon and thought a little more. She wasn’t rude, that wasn’t it. She was just… like that.

He sure wished she wasn’t like that  _ now _ , though.

“Welp!” James got up and stretched out his back. “I’m going to take a look at the shelves. Who’s up for it?”

“Not it,” Jessie mumbled, lowering her hat over her face. Meowth jumped at the opportunity to do something besides play the role of an electrical paper shredder. Moon shrugged and grinned. 

“Might as well,” she said as she stood. 

“That’s the spirit, twerp!” James loudly proclaimed, seeming to forget that 1, he was in “disguise,” if you could even call it that, and 2, where exactly they were. The library patrons sharply hushed him and he laughed awkwardly, guiding Meowth and Moon to another row.

“Maybe we could find a good tourist book here, or something.”

“Don’t you already have one of those?” Meowth asked. Their voices trailed off as they walked out of sight. Jessie waited until they were completely gone to quickly steal Moon’s seat. “Finally,” she sighed as she sunk into the fabric.

Ash was completely unsure of what to do now. 

“So.”

Jessie cracked open one eye. “Can’t you see I’m preoccupied?”

“Look, you aren’t my first pick either, but I’m bored!”

“Go find a picture book, kid.”

Ash crossed his arms and sunk into his chair. Pikachu made a vague noise of discomfort at the shift, but quickly got settled again. “You can’t COMPLETELY hate me.”

“You wanna bet? I could use some cash.”

“If you really hated me that much, you wouldn’t help me so much.”

“Name one time!!”

“I can name five! Remember when we were on that cruise ship? Or when I died?”

“You die a lot,” she grumbled. “And that doesn’t mean we like you, it just means we don’t wanna sit around while someone… dies! Dying is past our jurisdiction.”

Ash didn’t think that was the correct use of the word. “Are you doing this for them?”

“Them?”

“Sun and Moon. If you aren’t doing it to help me, it has to be for someone.”

Jessie hesitated. “Meowth and James insisted.”

“Yeah right!”

“Aren’t you supposed to be a nice kid?!”

A heavy shush surrounded the two, and they recoiled. “Besides,” Jessie hissed. “Did you ever think that this was just us wanting to get rid of two potential threats?”

Ash hadn’t thought about that.

“You kids said it yourself, Sun is a champion that _should not exist here_. There’s no Elite Four for him to be the champion of, and he still is! And Moon probably knows thirty ways to poison me without lifting a finger. If they stayed here and joined your posse, we’d never get anything done.”

Ash scowled. “That’s mean, even for you.”

Jessie looked like she wanted to say something, but she turned away and paused. She settled on saying something else: “What a trio you make. Three idiots trying to get home.”

“If you guys don’t like us, how come Meowth and James like them?”

“Who said they did?”

“Meowth seems to like them just fine, and James even HELPED them! Looker wouldn’t be here otherwise.”

“Maybe some of us take notes every time we end up in life threatening situations. Nothing good happens when dimensions cross, Ash, you know that. In the end, it doesn’t matter what I think of Sun and Moon, they’ll end up home sooner or later.”

“You’re grumpier than usual.”

“I am  _ not  _ grumpy!! I’m--” Jessie rubbed her head. “Fine. Fine, fine, finefinefinefinefine. I talked to them while you were up there.”

_ Finally, we’re getting somewhere that doesn’t end up with us arguing! _ “About what?”

“Didn’t you ask Sun that same question earlier? We talked about stuff. How strange it is that they hadn’t seen us before… How Team Rocket is different there. They both kind of talked over each other a little.”

“And?”

“It’s really weird when there are two versions of someone, or more or whatever, but it’s somehow weirder knowing there aren’t two. Neither of them knew anyone like me. Well, Moon said her version of Olivia reminded her of me.” Jessie stopped to think about the Olivia she and Ash knew. “She must be…”

“Very different.”

“Very.” Jessie almost laughed. “Hey, don’t think us talking is a friends thing, remember?”

“Oh, never.” Ash shook his head, and Pikachu mimicked his move. 

“Anyways,” she was fully smiling now. “Moon said if she was honest, she liked us more than the Team she’d heard of. Said the other one was really just a horror story adults told kids to get them to behave and watch their pokemon. Sun said he felt like we should’ve been there, but he’d just never met us. We were a lot less scary to him, too.”

She stopped smiling. “And that’s weird.” 

“Is it?” Ash asked.

“You shouldn’t like someone just because they don’t scare you. That’s… that’s not a good basis.”

“Isn’t that why you three are friends though?”

“We were assigned to each other,” Jessie started defensively, but even she couldn’t keep the charade up. “Friendship comes naturally, and over time. Sun and Moon only like us because they don’t know us. Me and the guys only get along because we’ve been together so long.”

“Maybe they just naturally like you.”

“Eh, maybe. I suppose I am pretty likable…”

_I’m not so sure about that._ “So they just talked to you with like, no prodding?”

“There was a little prodding. I think Sun did it just to get us to shut up!”

“And?”

“They’re… they’re nice kids. You know I hate nice kids, but I’m not gonna revel in their misery or anything. They need to go home, and the sooner they’re back, we’re back on course with you. Right?”

“More or less.” 

“It’s uncomforting when someone says they like you anyways. Moon was a little weary, but Sun outright said it! I don’t understand how he even functions.”

“He told me that he’s basically befriended Team Skull,” Ash looked around, thinking. “I guess he has experience with mean delinquents enough to find you guys friendly.”

Jessie snorted. “Hah, y--”

THUD.

THUD.

THUD.

James and Moon came running, Meowth clinging on desperately to Moon’s hat. 

“What did you do?” Ash cried.

“It’s not as bad as it looks!” Moon gave a pained smile, prying Meowth off of her. “We were just trying to reach a book, and it was a little high, so we made a little tower--”

“AN UNEVEN TOWER!” Meowth shouted.

“And James lost his balance--”

“Did not!!”

“And then the shelf came down with us.”

“Because you grabbed onto it!”

At that moment, Looker and Sun quickly descended the stairs, curious about the commotion. The thuds continued. “What happened?!”

“We gotta move or we’ll--”

“Excuse me, sir.”

James went pale. Pikachu gave Ash a slight unintentional shock. He and Jessie slowly turned to see a very unhappy librarian. “You wouldn’t have anything to do with-” she gestured to the shelves. “-that, would you?”

Jessie nervously laughed. “Not at all! As a matter of fact, we were just talking about how we wanted to leave, right?”

Everyone nodded a little too excitedly. The librarian glared. She had no intent of letting them leave.

“Do as I say, not as I do,” Looker whispered in the general vicinity of the children. “SCATTER!”

The group bolted out the doors at breakneck speed. Looker nodded to the Malie Garden entrance, and they made their way. That is, until Ash noticed three members missing.

He stopped to see Team Rocket running in the other direction, closer to the library than the others had been. “What are you doing!” He shouted.

“Leading them off!” James called out behind his shoulder. “Don’t wait up!”

“What about the--”

“We’ll find you eventually, just move it!” Jessie yelled

Ash had seen Team Rocket disappear lots of times, but it was strange seeing them voluntarily leave. Well, Jessie and James at least. Meowth seemed less than ecstatic, clinging onto the jacket tied around Jessie’s waist. Ash couldn’t linger on them too long though, so he ran back in the direction of the others. 

_ Jessie sure is bad at lying! _ He laughed to himself, already out of breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Team Rocket is so much fun to write because of all the LAYERS. The LAYERS man!! Jessie can fake all she wants, but deep down she's just as morally grey and soft as the other two. I mean, she's still going to take pokemon from children, but you know.


	10. A Bad Time For A Headache

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We got double POV this time baby, get used to it because things are going to speed up very quickly. We're almost in the home stretch!

    Sun thought Looker was smart from their encounter. It wasn’t that he was being proven wrong, but when Looker told them he had enough information to turn to Burnet, he didn’t expect to sit in another room to wait. Yes, for the third time today, he had to wait. He was getting sick and tired of waiting. “Why didn’t you tell her it was urgent?!”

    “We just ran away from possible legal repercussions! Isn’t that urgent enough for you?” Moon slumped in her chair.

    Looker went through the little notepad that all the kids were starting to get tired of. “She’s busy working on it as we speak anyways, we might as well take the opportunity to relax.”

    Sun froze. “Working on what?”

    “A way to get you back.”

    “How… how would you know that?”

    “Would you like me to rate it on a contrivance scale, first?”

    The kids looked blankly at him.

    “Your hats,” he pointed. “You wear them often, yeah? Not only is your DNA on them, but a good chunk of your friends as well. When I spoke with your professor here, he briefly mentioned his wife was studying DNA strands found on the both of you, and through a whole lot of science mumbo jumbo--”

    “You’re not coming through.”

    “Point is, she’s trying to recreate the wormholes. All she needs is a little more help from someone with experience in this sort of thing, even if it’s just someone who’s witnessed similar events.”

    “Is that where you come in?”

    “Arguably. But I would say Ash has spent more time with you two than I have.”

    “Ash?”

    Sun turned to Ash, who was half-listening, half-awake, just messing with Pikachu’s ears. Looker continued, “He’s been telling both Burnet and Kukui about everything you guys’ve been up to, and they’ve been learning.”

    Sun winced at the amount of times they’d trespassed at his request. _Hopefully not EVERYTHING…_

    A ding sounded.

    “Ah, that’s our cue! Come on, kids.” He stood up just as quickly as they had run away from the library, and Sun was perplexed at how he still had any leftover energy. Then again, Sun still hadn’t had breakfast, and no matter how safe Alola was, sleeping on a bench wasn’t his ideal. That, on top of being in the lab again was… a lot.

    Sun reluctantly stood and followed Looker down a few hallways. It was only when they made the third turn that his head began to spin and he froze. This was the same path he travelled down a few nights ago. He steadied himself against the wall, suddenly feeling unwell.

    “Sun?” Ash took a hold of his shoulder.

    Looker and Moon turned around. Or at least, Sun thought they did. He couldn’t really keep his eyes open too long. His breathing was heavy, he felt like a weight was on his chest, and Ash holding his arm wasn’t hurting, but it wasn’t helping either. Everything just felt... so much.

    “He’s…” Moon stopped and quickly approached him. She put her hands under his arms and lowered him to the floor. “It’s the stress. He should be fine, but we need to give him a minute.”

    _Be fine_ , he repeated silently. _Be fine! Ugh, I feel like I’m gonna hurl…_

    “Is there any chance the professor can come out here?” Ash said.

    Looker squatted down to Sun. “I think she’ll have to. You’re as pale as the sand on the beach, kid.” He stood. “I’ll go get her.”

    As Looker walked away, Ash took his place on the ground. “What’s up?”

    “Hallway… doors… augh--”

    Moon lifted her purse strap over her head and set the bag on the floor, beginning to dig through it. She pulled out a cold press, prepackaged, and opened it sharply. It felt weird and gel-y, but it helped a little.

    “Do you just…” he paused and winced. “Do you have these things on you all the time or something?”

    “It’s my job.”

    “Trainers don’t have jobs,” Ash raised an eyebrow.

    “I’m training!”

    “We know,” both the boys said.

    “No, no, I mean,” Moon started. She stopped. She started to laugh. “Okay that was… kind of funny. I mean,” she repeated, shaking her head and furrowing her brow again. “You have to rest. We gotta prop up your legs or somethin’.”

    Ash made a face. A thinking face, Sun suspected. “Do you think… we could lift you to the chairs downstairs?”

    Sun paled again. “What.”

    Moon thought about it.

    “No, no no,” Sun was sweating again, but for a different reason now.

    “If I take his arms,” she murmured.

    “And I take the legs…”

    “WAIT--”

    Two voices echoed around the turn, and as soon as Moon and Ash had lifted Sun a foot off the ground. Burnet and Looker stared. Moon dropped him first.

    He hit the ground right on his back, and groaned the second the impact registered. “Hey Professor.”

    “What were you kids doing?!” She cried, running to check Sun.

    “He needs to prop up his feet, he’s not getting enough circulation to his head!”

    “We were taking him to the chairs!”

    “Your heart is racing,” she observed. “We’re taking you back to Kukui’s.”

    “Wh…” Sun absorbed the comment slowly. “Wait, no, we have to talk to you. We have to get b…”

    His head pounded again and he reflexively put his hand to his head. He almost knocked off the compress in the process, and Burnet lifted him up. “We can talk it over there, plenty. Things are working out already, so don’t worry. Just try to relax.”

    “Try to relax? Try to r-- I’m even more nervous now! What do you mean things are working already?”

    Burnet carried him to a chair, and slowly set him down. “We’re getting you home.” Her smile was warm and genuine. Back when they met, Lillie told Sun that Burnet was what she always thought a true mother should be. It reminded Sun of his own mom. Home.

    “How?” Moon nearly yelled. Sun and Ash were visibly taken aback by her losing her cool, but she continued. “Today? Tonight?”

    “Not quite,” the professor admitted. “It’s… It’s a work in progress. It’s no small feat to recreate one wormhole...” she looked at Sun again. “...much less two.”

    “So they’re going home? Already?” Ash sounded slightly disappointed, but Sun thought he imagined it.

    _Ash is a pretty nice kid_ , he thought. _But he’s told me about like, hundreds of friends he’s made._ He glanced at Looker. _He even knew him beforehand! He could handle saying goodbye._

    Sun tried to wash away any other thoughts. The reality was that while Ash would take him leaving well, Sun wasn’t sure he would. He missed his friends so, so much, but… he had said it a hundred times already. In his dimension, there was no Ash, and there was no Moon. But here, he didn’t have anyone besides them. Sure, everyone was technically here, but not in the way he needed. He had to go back regardless.

    “Not that soon. It’s very close to being done, but we need to tweak a lot of things. That’s what Looker is here for.”

    “What can he do?” Ash asked. The question came off as a little harsh to Sun, but he knew Ash didn’t mean anything harmful by it.

    “I asked a few questions regarding the circumstances of the wormholes,” Looker tilted his chin up proudly. “It’s vague, going off you guys as a source, but it’s enough to fill in the gaps.”

    “That doesn’t really make sense,” Sun mumbled.

    Ash quickly countered him. “But if it gets them home, then… good! Good.”

    Burnet looked at a clock on the wall. “Oh, it’s way past lunch time, have you kids eaten yet?”

 

    The reality was that Sun could care less about lunch by this point, but the adults had dragged them back home. His sudden headache faded by the time they boarded the boat, but he kept the ice pack just in case. It was pretty hot out, after all.

    Lunch was uneventful in wake of the news. Sun was hungry enough to eat, despite insisting to Burnet that he would be fine if they stayed in the lab and talked. If he didn’t know any better, he’d say that she was purposefully avoiding showing them the wormholes.

    He thought about the last time he was in her lab. He couldn’t blame her.

    As tempting as it was to disregard her again and go home, apologize to HIS Professor Burnet… This time around, he learned his lesson. Never again. But he still couldn’t help wondering how close she was to finishing it.

    He sat in the living room, holding his plate in his lap, right next to Moon and Ash. Moon was twisting the end of her hair, and Ash was very interested in his shoelaces. This wouldn’t do.

    “So. Why did we call Looker again?”

    Moon seemed to wince, but nodded. “I didn’t expect Anabel to not be with Interpol here.”

    “She’s a faller right? Maybe this universe’s Anabel fell out of this one, and into mine. Or into your’s!”

    Ash put his hand on his neck and leaned forward in his seat. “Well, about that…”

    Sun watched Moon’s face immediately change. “What.”

    “I realized why the name sounded a little familiar to me, but then I thought, Anabel is a sort of common name, so maybe it’s not the same person. And it hit me, after we met up with Looker.”

    It was like a meter.

    “Because well, I was trying to remember where I met him, and one of my first thoughts was Hoenn.”

    With every word that came out of Ash’s mouth, Moon’s face darkened more and more.

    “And I remembered, a psychic trainer, back in Hoenn, named Anabel.”

    Moon got up to throttle Ash.

    “WAIT, WAIT!” Ash held up a couch cushion as a shield. “I didn’t realize!!”

    “There’s no point,” Sun sighed, crossing his arms. Moon had already grabbed Ash by the neck, but nevertheless they turned to look at Sun. “If you met her that recently, she’s not an adult here. She’s just a kid like us here, and she might not even be a faller.”

    Moon repeated Sun’s sigh, and released Ash. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

    “Don’t worry about it,” Ash coughed. “But if there’s no way she’s a faller, there really was no point in calling in Looker, huh?”

    “Not necessarily,” she said. “He had a reaction when we mentioned ‘fallers’ and such, so he knows at least something.”

    “But if Anabel isn’t the faller, who is?”

    The kids went quiet. They nervously looked at the adults standing near the aquarium.

    “You don't think…” Moon whispered.

    “No…”

    Sun was completely dumbfounded. “You’re kidding.”

    “It makes a little sense, doesn’t it?”

    “No, no it doesn’t!”

    “You don’t know that!” Moon turned to Ash. “You know this version better than us, what do you think? Anything suspicious?”

    “Well, I hadn’t seen him in a long time.”

    “What does that have to do with this?”

    “For all we know, he could’ve been running through dimensions while we were apart!”

    “I sincerely doubt he’s a faller. If he was we--”

    “Would be on the way home by now?” Moon raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Say, who would have the knowledge of wormholes to help a scientist recreate one, even with minimal details?”

    Ash’s face grew into a goofy smile. “C’mon Sun, it all lines up!”

    “It absolutely does not. It just means he’s a good detective.”

    “Not too good at keeping secrets though,” Moon mumbled.

    Sun faced her. “What does that mean?”

    “Nothin… Elio.”

    “WHAT!!” Sun leapt from his seat and tackled Moon.

    “ELIO?!” Ash cried. “ELIO???”

    “IT’S A DUMB NAME!”

    Moon scrambled away from Sun’s reach, laughing maniacally. “Why did you tell him if you hate it so much?”

    “He asked for all the information! I told him about my version of Alola, and my mom, and my… name…”

    “Sun is a nickname?!”

    “Why didn’t you just tell him ‘Sun?’”

    “HE WAS VERY PROFESSIONAL.” Ash made a disbelieving look. “WHATEVER, YOU GUYS SUCK.”

    “You guys okay over here?” Professor Kukui walked into the living room, no doubt drawn in by the loud shouting.

    “Peachy.”

    “Outstanding!”

    Moon was oddly quiet. Sun turned when she didn’t respond, even though the professor had already returned to the other adults. Her previous smug and giddy expression was replaced with an uncomfortable stare at the wooden floor.

    “You good?”

    “Just thinkin’.”

    Sun didn’t really buy it. She was doing that purse thing again. Regardless, he’d seen that bothering her about these things rarely ended well. She had just proven that by threatening Ash! If he was honest, it was a little funny sometimes how quickly she would resort to threats for a pharmacist. You’d think she’d be a pacifist.

    But right now, it wasn’t too funny. So, Sun decided to leave her be.

   

    The night was cool and breezy, the wind whistling faintly around the house. Looker had long since left for a nearby hotel room, and with the remaining inhabitants in bed, Moon had a bad idea with no one to really prevent her from going through with it. She grabbed her bag, the sounds muffled in comparison to Sun’s snoring. She thought about taking a souvenir home but… what? It didn’t matter. If she had the chance to go home, she had to take it. She tiptoed across the floor, vaguely remembering a creak near the left side of the front door. Turns out that around here, the creak was to the right. Her shoulders shot up in defense at the sound, but when she turned there was no sign anyone was awake. She exhaled a little louder than she meant to.

    Stepping onto the porch, past the stairs, into the sand, it never got easier. Every time she even so much as saw the rickety house, she felt a pang in her gut. She never even really cared much for it. She never really thought about it. And having it all taken away made her realize just how… important it kind of was. She remembered stepping onto Alola missing Sinnoh. Now, here she was missing Alola despite being right there. Almost approaching the shoreline by now, she sighed and thought about the stars up above her. Not too long ago she and Sun had looked up at them, right? _Sun and I could’ve made a habit out of this. I think he’d like hearing about stars, maybe. There’s lots of stories that could entertain him and stuff. We could maybe have a party._ Reminiscing didn’t stop her friends from being worlds away, though. It didn’t stop her only getting to really admire how clear the sky was only a handful of times.

    _A party would be nice, once I got back,_ she thought. _Maybe time isn’t passing there right now, though. I could make up some other reason. Maybe a “I totally beat up Guzma again” party?_ She laughed out loud, but was immediately mindful of the noise. She covered her mouth but kept grinning. _Lillie could come, and her brother. We could invite Mallow, Lana, Kiawe… I think Sun mentioned meeting a nice girl on Poni Island. The kahunas, too. Oh, maybe Hau. Sun says he’s nice, after all. Sun should definitely go too. Maybe Ash, or if they were nice enough, the Team Rocket guys--_

    Her face dropped. No, not Ash. He won’t be there. Suddenly, the party she’d conjured up went downhill. Kukui couldn’t help her organize it, he would be busy. The kahunas would be far too occupied to go, too. Team Rocket wasn’t even around anymore, much less those three. She rubbed her face. _I hate crying. I won’t do it. I’m overreacting, I was happy earlier wasn’t I? I won’t. I won’t--_

    “Moon?”

    She turned so quickly it hurt her neck. Ash stood before her, barefoot on the sand, still in his pajamas. He didn’t look entirely awake, but he was conscious enough to have a strange emotion on his face.

    “Hey, Ash.”

    “It’s like, midnight. Why are you out here? You know we aren’t going to the big lab until morning, right?”

    “That’s too long. I’m leaving now.”

    “The boats are all put away for the night.”

    “I have a pokeride.”

    “A lapras won’t take you far enough, these islands are spread out, Moon!”

    Without much warning, she went off. “Yeah, well? I’ll find a way. I’m not stupid, I can figure it out. I’m going home _now_. I don’t want a rescue support team here. Not all of us need everybody we meet to hold our hand along the way.”

    As soon as the words left her mouth, they felt wrong and unnatural. _That wasn’t me_ , she thought. But it was. “Um. I-- Sorry. That was very uncalled for.”

    “But… hold on, I can’t stand like this.” Ash sat down on the sand uneventfully. He didn’t even look like the words bit him. “Could you sit too? It’s kinda hard to keep leaning straight up to see your face.”

    She slowly lowered herself onto the beach. He continued. “You sure try acting like an adult a lot.”

    Moon grit her teeth. “I do n--”

    “You know that you can still go back tomorrow. Professor Burnet says it’s not even done yet. Recreating a wormhole isn’t something people do this late. Did you think you could start it yourself or something?” She didn’t respond. “Oh, oh no you really did…”

    “Why does it matter, I just need to go!”

    “Without saying goodbye?”

    She paused again. “It’s business. I have to.”

    “But we had presents saved…”

    Embarrassingly, this caught her attention. Not because of the gift, but rather the gesture. “You got me something?”

    “And Sun! Just to remember it all, y’know?” _That solves the souvenir problem._

    “You don’t wanna leave without getting a chance to really show everyone how much they helped, do you? I mean, yeah, rescue probably isn’t the right word. But I think help is, and no matter what you’re trying to say here, I think you’re pretty glad they did.”

    Moon hid a slight smile. She wasn’t sure why, she didn’t really feel like smiling, but it seemed instinct. “A little.”

    Ash smiled back. “Oh, whatever! It’s getting chilly. Let’s just go back to bed.” She stood up mid-sentence abruptly. “Y’know?”

    “Mhmm, I know. Let’s go home.”


	11. The Longest and Shortest Goodbye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly I feel like a normie saying this, mostly because I've never watched like. Mcelroy stuff but the one speech about goodbyes being short, abrupt, messy, etc, is really good and I'm constantly thinking about it. Unfortunately, I think that's very, very obvious here.

Ash woke up and felt sickish. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he didn’t really want to eat breakfast. It was like some strange force in the universe, maybe even Arceus itself, was reminding him of something unpleasant. It spoiled his appetite, spoiled his sleep, and spoiled his mood. 

Of course, getting up in the middle of the night to stop Moon probably had something to do with the lack of sleep part. He and the others watched how quickly she devoured her breakfast, almost in a single bite. 

“Did you even taste that?” Sun was still groggy, but amused. 

“Hurry up and eat! Hurry! We have to get to the lab!”

“My company can’t be that bad, can it?” Looker walked in, closing the front door behind him.

“Why is everyone up so early today,” Sun grumbled.

“It’s a big day!” Ash smiled.

“Pika!” Pikachu agreed. Deep down, Ash knew why he felt so bad. He knew what the unpleasant reminder was. Today marked another two friends that he would likely never see again. It felt selfish to him, being more concerned with parting than the dangers of dimensional travel. What if one of them lost a shoe while in-between?

_ Wait _ , he panicked. _ If I gave Moon a present, would it carry between dimensions? _ He supposed so, since all of their belongings came with them in their bags to this dimension. 

He didn’t honestly have a gift ready for either of them, but it was the only thing he could come up with that late at night. Maybe while Burnet was briefing them on how to safely cross, he could get something? Maybe… maybe he could right now.

“Professor, we gotta talk!”

“Yeah?”

“In private.”

“Ohhhh, it’s personal,” Sun and Moon said in unison. They were considerably confused at the hivemind incident, but laughed it off. Good, Ash thought. 

Kukui took him to the porch, waited for Pikachu to tail behind him, and closed the door. “What’s up?”

“I need to go to the shopping center today, before they leave.”

The professor made a noise through his teeth. “You’ll have to be quick. Moon is pretty set on going as quickly as possible.”

“She won’t leave without saying bye to me, I know it.” He wasn’t just saying it, either. Ash genuinely believed it. “So, can you take them to the lab without me, get Professor Burnet to stall as much as possible.”

“I’ll try my best, Ash. Go quickly, okay?”

“You got it!” He immediately started running off the beach. 

 

Time passed quickly for all three of them. In no time at all, Sun and Moon left the island, and Ash had reached the shopping plaza.  _ Things are going way too fast _ , Ash thought.

Sun watched as Kukui’s home got smaller in the distance. Moon kept her eyes on the water. Ash scooped up Pikachu to carry him to the next store. 

Sun heard the crisp sound of his footsteps too clearly as they walked on the sidewalk to Burnet’s lab. He was starting to get that horrible feeling again, but he brushed it away the best he could. No more of that, we’re almost back.

Moon kicked a rock out of the way, still not fully looking up. “We didn’t get to say goodbye to Team Rocket, did we?”

“Or the guys at the school.” 

“Man.”

“Yeah,” Sun nodded. What else could be said?

Ash continued his hunt, coming across the last store on Melemele. They mostly specialized in clothes, which was a little bit too big. He was no closer to getting a gift than he was when he fibbed.

Sun noticed that Looker didn’t even bother with the receptionist this time. Special access maybe?

Moon waited for the elevator to come down, subconsciously twisting the tie on the bottom of her shirt.  _ This is the worst. _

Ash finally saw it. Near the register, a few bracelets hung. They were pretty cheap, but the bright colors stood out well enough, and they could probably last. There wasn’t much time to second guess if he was going to catch a new ride in time. He went ahead and paid, and ran to the dock.

Burnet welcomed the kids to the lab. It was a room not too different from the one Sun had left from. Moon thought it was familiar too. On the other side of the glass, two large wormholes spun. Their gravitational pull seemed a lot less intense than the previous ones, but Moon thought it must be intentional.

She turned to the professors. “Where’s Ash?”

The bag swung chaotically as Ash ran off the boat. He almost tripped multiple times, but Pikachu tried to keep him balanced. They made way to the lab, not even bothering to stop for traffic, the elevator, doors, anything. He opened the final door and--

Sun stopped and turned. Moon stopped and turned. “You lied about those presents, didn’t you?”

“Maybe,” Ash panted. Pikachu collapsed on the floor next to him. “But I got ‘em, didn’t I?” He laughed. Moon smiled slowly and started to laugh too. She took Sun’s hand and they met Ash halfway. 

“You both knew about this and I didn’t?” Sun looked between them, perplexed. 

“Ash and Professor Kukui got us parting gifts,” Moon declared. 

    Burnet gave Kukui a questioning smile, to which he shrugged and whispered something to her. She started to laugh, which only confused Sun more. Of course, he wasn’t one to object to free stuff either.

    It was weirdly quiet as Ash fished the bracelets out. Maybe it was the change of pace. He handed them both their trinkets and the three silently put them on. It wasn’t awkward, but… Ash only just realized that the night before was their last night. That morning was their last breakfast. 

    But then again, he’d seen plenty of his friends around. Maybe Sun and Moon wouldn’t be so different.

    Sun made a face while he looked at his. Three beads put together in a random order… it shouldn’t have made him sad, but he turned his head up to the other two. “We didn’t really say goodbye to those three, did we?”

    “No,” Moon responded. “But I don’t think they’ll take it personally. So we shouldn’t either.”

    “I don’t think it’s that easy,” Ash laughed. “Take right now for instance! We-- We…”

    The sobering silence came back.

    “It’s good. It’s all good.”

    “Yeah.”

    “Mhmm.”

    Kukui and Burnet looked at each other nervously. “Okay,” Burnet spoke. “If we wait too much longer… Ugh, I can’t say this,” she turned away. 

    “I think what she means is… we should wrap this up.” Kukui grimaced as he said it. He spoke quieter, not really directing it at anyone. “No wonder you didn’t wanna say it, I feel awful.”

    “No, we’re good.” Moon stood straight. “We just had to make sure everything was in place.” 

    “You call this good?” Sun asked incredulously. 

    “Good enough!”

    The adults didn’t dare speak, and the kids seemed tense. “It seems a little unformal this way,” Sun admitted. “I was kind of expecting a slightly bigger send-off.”

    “I dunno,” Ash said. “Sometimes things like this aren’t eventful.”

    Sun couldn’t believe what he was hearing, and it showed on his face. “Man, what part of two kids emerging from parallel universes into your world isn’t eventful?”

    Ash laughed.  _ If only you knew, _ he thought. 

    It was clear that despite trying to rush things, Moon was just as melancholy. “I think goodbyes hurt less when they’re fast.”

    “Yeah right! This is a major scale goodbye!”

    Ash’s smile never faded. “So you’ll remember it for that, then!”

    “You’re kidding!” Sun gaped. “Don’t get hammy on me now, cheeseball!”

    At seeing Sun’s random wash of disbelief, complete with shouting and random gestures, Moon burst out laughing. Ash joined in, and Sun succumbed to the contagious giggles soon after. It was only when she stopped laughing that they realized they were crying a little bit too.  _ I hate emotions _ , thought Moon.  _ Well, maybe that’s a little on the nose. I hate _ these  _ emotions _ . 

    “Okay,” Sun finally said. “I think this is as good as we’re gonna get on short notice. Anyone have any final confessions before we hop out?”

    Moon made a show of looking up and tapping her chin, even with the fresh tearstains still on her cheeks. “Well, one time I took one of your spare pajama shirts to clean up a spot of poison that Mareanie left on the hardwood floor.”

    Sun blinked. “Like. Here? These past few days?”

    “No, doofus, at home. But you didn’t specify.”

    “You are insufferable.”

    “It’s probably why we’re friends now!” Ash beamed.

    Moon laughed. “Because I’m insufferable?”

    “Team Rocket calls me that all the time, so all three of us must be it.”

    Moon howled louder. The rollercoaster of emotions was treating them well now, so with a final smile, all three stood up straight. 

    “Is a hug too weird to ask for?”

    “I don’t think so.”

    “Not overly.”

    And so they did. It was quick, but nice. It was like the warmth of the daytime on the beach, the cool relaxation of wading in the ocean, and the sand on the shores of Alola that never really seemed to get too hot or scratchy. While none of them realized, as it was an unspoken thought, all three of them made a mental note to try and preserve this moment the best they could growing up. Sun winced at the corniness of the thought, but deep down he couldn’t blame himself.

    The two once-strangers waved to Ash as they walked to the center of the room. 

    Burnet cleared her throat. “Clear?”

    “Clear.”

    “Sun, you’ll take the wormhole to the left. Moon, your right. Please, PLEASE be careful. We still don’t know if this is g--”

    Kukui put a hand on her shoulder and she exhaled. “Don’t give your versions of me a hard time, ok?”

    “Gotcha.”

    “Promise!”

    “It’ll collapse pretty quickly, so try to jump in. On three… One…”

    “Bye guys,” Moon gave a sad look to the three standing nearby. She turned momentarily to see Sun. “If you meet me someday--”

    “I’ll trip her.”

    “You better not!”

    “You couldn’t’ve had this conversation before I was counting down, huh?” Burnet smiled. “One…”

    “Bye Ash!” They both spoke in a single breath, quick to not slow down the professor again.

    “Two…”

    “Seeya,” Ash smiled with a light wave. Pikachu pressed its hands on the glass, looking at them.

    “Three!”

    They darted in their opposite directions, aiming for a running start. The loud echo of their shoes hitting the tile bounced across the room, and the dull hum of the wormhole got louder. It was a bit scarier doing it on purpose, Sun decided. Almost there. One foot left the ground, then the other at a slight angle. The twist of his jump had spun him around slightly, to the point he could vaguely see the wormhole close. A vague, blurry figure was present through the small spot remaining. It almost looked like him. Then he realized what exactly it was.

    It looked like Ash wanted to say one more quick goodbye after all. One minute they’re sappy, the next they’re apathetic, Sun thought. The momentum carried him around the rest of the 180, and the white engulfed him for the second time in a week. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO... YEAH. Let's be honest, if I wanted to and had enough time and inspiration I could've kept these two in this dimension for chapters and chapters, going on tons of adventures and whatever, but there are so, so, SO many long stories about that. This time around, we're just doing a nice, little one. Like Into the Spider-verse!


	12. No Story Is Any Good Without An Epilogue

    When Sun woke up again, for the first time in forever, he was in a familiar place. The lab that caused all this trouble surrounded him, although oddly enough the equipment was missing and the door was gone. He got up and dusted himself off, wondering if he was in yet another alternate reality. He walked out of the room, down the hallway to the elevator, past the reception desk… basic routine really. Upon seeing it was night outside, he decided the best course of action would just to hitch a ride home. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a pokeride like he would any other day. 

    He flew home, right to his front door. His front door.

    It was only then that he noticed Ash’s dimension had no house like this. He wondered if he and his mom only had one version of themselves. Maybe even her meowth. 

    Speaking of, when he creaked open the door, he was greeted by the fussy creature. It’s mouth twisted into a sour expression that said, “why are you waking me up this late at night?” and Sun muffled a laugh in his hand. 

    “You remind me of another meowth,” he giggled as he lifted up the pokemon. He carried it to his room, kicking off his shoes and hopping into bed. 

_     I can’t believe I got tired of this _ , was his last thought as he drifted into the most peaceful sleep he’d ever had.

 

    “Whaddya mean, you didn’t meet me?” Hau put his hands on his hips jokingly. “The kid said I was there, right?”

    After Sun had been gone so long, every person over the age of 13 began fussing over him. A good chunk of the trial captains, kahunas, professors, you name it, were frightened beyond belief at what he could’ve seen. Sun had travelled to Ultra Space a few times, but never a parallel dimension. While the others scrambled over his safety, health, and what this meant for a new wave of science, Hau, Lillie and Gladion were more occupied with what Sun had done on his time away. 

    If Sun thought about it, it made sense that they were slightly less bothered by his disappearance. Gladion told him privately that Lillie was extremely worried, and Hau more than he let on. But even so, Lillie had dealt with a missing brother, Gladion had dealt with a missing sister, and Hau had seen Sun come out of wormholes fine. If he was honest, it was a little weird how accustomed to this they really were.

    “Nope. Ash said you lived somewhere else, actually. You only came to visit Hala every so often.”

    “No way,” Lillie shook her head. “Where else would he live?”

    “With his parents?” Gladion suggested.

    “Nah, Grandpa is practically my dad figure anyways.”

    “Do…” Sun awkwardly looked at the table they were sitting at. “Do any of us have an actual father here, currently.”

    Lillie looked at Sun. Sun looked at Gladion. Gladion looked at Hau. Hau looked at Lillie. 

    “Well--”

    “L-Let’s not talk about that right now.” Gladion lost his composure for a mere second. “What about me?”

    “Nope, didn’t see you either.”

    “But I was there.”

    “I think so. Lillie seemed to mention you.”

    “I was there?”

    “Yeah, but like, the old you.” Hau and Lillie tilted their heads in confusion. “Remember when Lusamine used to dress y--”

    The other kids made a sharp hiss through their teeth in understanding. “Yeah,” Sun nodded. “Like that. Ash said she was getting better, though.”

    “Well, good.” Lillie rested her hands on the table contently. “What about the girl?”

    “Moon was nice. Kinda hard to talk to at first, but I used my expert person skills to win her friendship.”

    “Like with Gladion,” Hau pointed out.

    Gladion crossed his arms. “It’s not about that.”

    “Maybe. Anyways, she said I was in her dimension, but slightly different. I was like, a total pennypincher and a little bit meaner! I think people are just a little more cynical there, and that’s why she was like that at first.”

    “She sounds great!” Lillie smiled. “I just… man.”

    “What?”

    “I just wish we could’ve gone with you, to meet everyone all over again.”

    “That’s a bad idea, though,” Gladion said. “Going to a dimension where you already exist means a chance of a paradox.”

    The other three nodded solemnly, pretending they knew what he meant. 

    “At least I got this,” Sun proudly stuck out his arm to show off the bracelet. “Hala told me it’s more powerful than a Z-Ring, because it symbo--”

    “I think it’s plastic,” Hau muttered.

    “HEY!”

    Hau and Lillie cracked up, and Sun couldn’t help himself. Gladion never laughed, ever, at least Sun thought, but he did smile. That was good enough.

    Good enough. The phrase bothered him. To Sun, it meant that Moon wasn’t really ready to go either, and he knew Ash wasn’t ready for them to leave. He thought about what else they could’ve done, but looking at the others at the table, he knew that that was it. He wouldn’t’ve been happy there, not truly. This was home. It wasn’t the best outcome of the situation maybe, but he couldn’t just take Moon and Ash back with him! He couldn’t just go scouring the planet with his friends, searching for what might be this world’s equivalent.

    Could he?

    “Hey, Gladion, since you handle the Aether Foundation now--”

    “With supervision!” Lillie added.

    “Right, with supervision, don’t you have a lot of money?”

    “They live in a mansion.”

    “I know that, Hau! I mean, remember when you told me that all I needed was a trip out to spice up my life?”

    “That’s… true, I did say that a while back.”

    “Do you think we could buy some plane tickets? A boat? Those weird teleport-y things in your house?”

    Gladion pieced together what he was saying relatively quickly. “You’re kidding.”

    “We don’t know unless we try!”

    “But what if there’s no one with those names ANYWHERE?” Lillie asked.

    “Then first, we go investigate,” Sun hopped out of his chair and the others followed. They started down the walkway to an old hotel. “And I know just who to ask.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that took longer than I expected to finish. Anyways, thanks to everyone who read this, gave it kudos, bookmarked it, shared it, etc etc (ao3 has a lot of features!). If I'm honest I mostly wrote it for myself, but I'm glad to spread it around. I dunno if I'll write anything this... dimension-y in the future, but until then guys, have fun and keep playing/readying/watching Pokémon!


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